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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/rolloonatlanticOOabbo_0 


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PREFACE 


In  the  series  of  narratives  to  which  his  vol- 
ume pertains,  we  offer  to  the  readers  of  the 
RoUo  Books  a  continuation  of  the  history  of 
our  little  hero,  by  giving  them  an  account  of 
the  adventures  which  such  a  boy  may  be  sup- 
posed to  meet  with  in  making  a  tour  in  Europe. 
The  books  are  intended  to  be  books  of  instruc- 
tion rather  than  of  mere  amusement;  and  in 
perusing  them,  the  reader  may  feel  assured 
that  all  the  information  which  they  contain, 
not  only  in  respect  to  the  countries  visited,  and 
to  the  customs,  usages,  and  modes  of  life  that 
are  described,  but  also  in  regard  to  the  general 
character  of  the  incidents  and  adventures  that 
the  young  travelers  meet  with,  is  in  most  strict 
accordance  with  fact.  The  main  design  of  the 
narrative  is,  thus,  the  communication  of  use- 
ful knowledge ;  and  everything  which  they  con- 
tain, except  what  is  strictly  personal,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  actors  in  the  story,  may  be 
depended  upon  as  exactly  and  scrupulously 
true. 


3 


95B479 


PRINCIPAL  PERSONS  OF  THE  STORY. 


RoLLO :  twelve  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  :  Rollo's  father  and  mother,  trav- 
eling in  Europe. 
Thanny:  RoUo's  younger  brother. 

Jane:  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday. 
Mr.  George:  a  young  gentleman,  RoUo's  uncle. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEE,  PAOB. 

I.   Taking  Passage   7 

II.    The  Embarkation   22 

III.  Departure   38 

IV.  Getting  Settled   50 

V.    On  Deck   63 

VI.    A  Conversation   75 

VII.    Incidents   90 

VIII.    The  Storm  109 

IX.   The  Passengers'  Lottery  128 

X.    The  End  of  the  Lottery  149 

XL    The  Arrival  160 


6 


\ 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TAKING  PASSAGE. 

When  RoUo  was  about  twelve  years  of  age, 
he  made  a  voyage  to  Europe  under  rather  ex- 
traordinary circumstances.  He  went  alone; 
that  is  to  say,  he  had  no  one  to  take  care  of 
him.  In  fact,  in  addition  to  being  obliged  to 
take  care  of  himself,  he  had  also  his  little  sis- 
ter Jane  to  take  care  of;  for  she  went  with 
him.*  The  way  it  happened  that  two  such 
children  were  sent  to  sea  on  such  a  long  voy- 
age, without  any  one  to  have  them  in  charge, 
was  this : 

Rollo's  father  and  mother  had  gone  to 
Europe  to  make  a  tour,  a  year  before  this 
time,  and  had  taken  Rollo's  brother  Nathan, 
or  Thanny,  as  Rollo  used  most  frequently  to 
call  him,  with  them.    They  had  gone  partly 

*It  ought  here  to  be  stated,  that  Jane  was  not  really 
Rollo's  sister,  though  he  always  called  her  and  consid- 
ered her  so.  She  was  really  his  cousin.  Her  father  and 
mother  had  both  died  when  she  was  about  six  years  old, 
and  then  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  had  adopted  her  as  their 
own  child,  so  that  ever  since  that  time  she  had  lived 
with  Rollo  and  Nathan  as  their  sister.  She  was  very 
nearly  of  the  same  age  with  Nathan. 

7 


8  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


for  pleasure,  but  more  especially  on  account  of 
Mr.  Holiday's  health,  which  was  not  good.  It 
was  thought  that  the  voyage,  and  the  recrea- 
tion and  pleasure  of  traveling  in  Europe,  would 
be  a  benefit  to  him.  In  certain  cases  where  a 
person's  health  is  impaired,  especially  when 
one  is  slowly  recovering  from  past  sickness, 
nothing  is  found  to  have  a  more  beneficial 
effect  upon  the  patient  than  for  him  to  go  away 
somewhere  and  have  a  good  time.  It  was  de- 
termined to  try  the  effect  of  this  remedy  upon 
Mr.  Holiday,  and  so  he  went  to  Europe.  Mrs. 
Holiday  went  with  him.  They  took  Thanny, 
too,  to  be  company  for  them  on  the  way. 
Thanny  was  at  this  time  about  seven  years 
old. 

A  child  of  that  age,  for  a  traveling  compan- 
ion, is  sometimes  a  source  of  great  pleasure, 
and  sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  he  is  the 
means  of  great  annoyance  and  vexation.  This 
depends  upon  whether  he  is  obedient,  patient, 
quiet,  and  gentle  in  his  manners  and  demeanor, 
or  noisy,  inconsiderate,  wilful,  and  intractable. 
A  great  many  children  act  in  such  a  manner, 
whenever  they  take  a  journey  or  go  out  to  ride 
with  their  parents,  that  their  parents,  in  self 
defense,  are  obliged  to  adopt  the  plan  of  almost 
always  contriving  to  leave  them  behind. 

It  was  not  so,  however,  with  Nathan.  He 
was  an  excellent  boy  in  traveling,  and  always 
made  the  ride  or  the  journey  more  .pleasant 
for  those  who  took  him  with  them.  This  was 
the  reason  why,  when  it  was  determined  that 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  should  go  to  England, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  9 


that  Mrs.  Holiday  was  very  desirous  that  Na- 
than should  go,  too.  And  so  far  as  Nathan 
was  concerned,  the  voyage  and  the  tour  proved 
to  be  all  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  expected 
or  desired.  In  regard  to  other  points,  how- 
ever, it  was  less  successful.  Mr.  Holiday  did 
not  improve  in  health,  and  he  did  not  have  a 
good  time.  Mrs.  Holiday  was  anxious  about 
her  husband's  health,  and  she  was  uneasy,  too, 
at  being  separated  so  long  from  her  other  two 
children — RoUo  and  little  Jane,  especially  lit-  ^ 
tie  Jane — whom  she  had  learned  to  love  as  if 
she  were  really  her  daughter.  So,  before  the 
year  was  ended,  they  both  heartily  Wished 
themselves  back  in  America  again. 

But  now  Mr.  Holiday's  health  grew  worse, 
and  he  seemed  too  ill  to  return.  This  was  in 
the  month  of  May.  It  was  decided  by  the 
physician,  that  it  would  not  be  best  for  him  to 
attempt  to  return  until  September,  and  per- 
haps not  until  the  following  spring.  Mrs.  Hol- 
iday was  herself  very  much  disappointed  at 
this  result.  She,  however,  submitted  to  it  very 
cheerfully.  J|rJ  rnii<;t  be  as  good  as  Thanny, " 
said  she.  *  gayskbmits  patiently  to  his  disap- 
pointments, and  why  should  not  I  submit  to 
mine.  His  are  as  great,  I  suppose,  for  him  to 
bear  as  mine  are  for  me. " 

When  Mrs.  Holiday  found  that  she  could  not 
go  to  her  children,  she  began  to  be  very  desir- 
ous that  her  children  should  come  to  her.  She 
was  at  first  almost  afraid  to  propose  such  a 
thing  to  her  husband,  as  she  did  not  see  how 
any  possible  plan  could  be  formed  for  bringing 


10  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


RoUo  and  Jane  across  the  wide  and  boisterous 
Atlantic  alone.  She,  however,  at  length  one 
day  asked  Mr.  Holiday  whether  it  would  not 
be  possible  in  some  way  to  accomplish  it. 

Mr.  Holiday  seemed  half  surprised  and  half 
pleased  when  he  heard  this  proposal.  At  first 
he  did  not  appear  to  know  exactly  what  to  say, 
or  even  to  think.  He  sat  looking  into  the  fire, 
which  was  blazing  in  the  grate  before  him, 
lost  apparently  in  a  sort  of  pleasing  abstrac- 
tion. There  was  a  faint  smile  upon  his  coun- 
tenance, but  he  did  not  speak  a  word. 

**That  is  an  idea!"  he  said,  at  length,  in  a 
tone  of  satisfaction.   **That  is  really  an  idea!*' 

Mrs.  Holiday  did  not  speak.  She  awaited  in 
silence,  and  with  no  little  anxiety,  the  result 
of  her  husband's  meditations. 

**That  is  really  quite  an  idea!*'  he  said  at 
length.  **Let  us  get  RoUo  and  Jane  here,  and 
then  we  shall  feel  entirely  easy,  and  can  re- 
turn to  America  whenever  we  get  ready,  be  it 
sooner  or  later.  We  shall  be  at  home  at  once 
where  we  are. ' ' 

**I  suppose  it  will  cost  something  to  have 
them  come  over,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday.  She 
was  not  so  anxious  to  have  the  children  come 
as  to  desire  that  the  question  should  be  decided 
without  having  all  the  objections  fully  consid- 
ered. Besides,  she  was  afraid  that  if  the  ques- 
tion were  to  be  decided  hastily,  without  proper 
regard  to  the  difficulties  that  were  in  the  way, 
there  would  be  danger  that  it  would  be  recon- 
sidered after  more  mature  reflection,  and  the 
decision  reversed.    So  she  wished  that  every- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  11 


thing  that  could  be  brought  against  the  project 
should  be  fully  taken  into  the  account  at  the 
outset. 

'*I  suppose,"  said  she,  *'that  their  expenses 
in  coming  out,  and  in  returning,  and  in  remain- 
ing here  with  us,  in  the  interim,  would  amount 
to  a  considerable  sum.'* 

**Yes,**  said  Mr.  Holiday,  **but  that  is  of  no 
consequence." 

**I  don't  know  what  we  should  do  about  hav- 
ing them  taken  care  of  on  the  passage,  **  added 
Mrs.  Holiday. 

*'0,  there  would  be  no  diJBficulty  about  that, " 
said  Mr.  Holiday.  George  could  easily  find 
some  passenger  coming  out  in  the  ship,  who 
would  look  after  them  while  at  sea,  I  have  no 
doubt.  And  if  he  should  not  find  any  one,  it 
would  be  of  no  consequence.  Rollo  could  take 
care  of  himself.  *' 

**And  of  Jane,  too?"  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

•*Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Holiday,  '*and  of  Jane, 
too;  that  is,  with  the  help  of  the  chamber- 
maids. They  have  excellent  chambermaids  on 
board  the  Atlantic  steamers." 

So  it  was  concluded  to  send  for  Rollo  and 
Jane  to  embark  on  board  the  steamer  at  New 
York,  and  sail  for  Europe.  Mr.  Holiday  wrote 
to  Rollo's  uncle  George,  requesting  him  to 
make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  voy- 
age, and  then  to  take  the  children  to  New 
York,  and  put  them  on  board.  He  was  to  com- 
mit them,  if  possible,  to  the  charge  of  some 
one  of  the  passengers  on  board  the  ship.  If, 
for  any  reason,  he  should  not  succeed  in  find- 


12  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


ing  any  passenger  to  take  care  of  them,  he  was 
to  state  the  case  to  the  captain  of  the  ship, 
that  he  might  see  to  them  a  little  from  time  to 
time ;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  he  was  to  put 
them  tinder  the  special  charge  of  one  of  the 
chambermaids,  promising  her  that  she  should 
be  well  rewarded  for  her  services,  on  the  ar- 
rival of  the  ship  in  Liverpool. 

The  important  tidings  of  the  determination 
which  had  been  made,  that  Rollo  and  Jane 
should  actually  cross  the  Atlantic,  were  first 
announced  to  the  children  one  evening  near 
the  end  of  May.  They  were  eating  their  sup- 
per at  the  time,  seated  on  a  stone  seat  at  the 
bottom  of  the  garden,  where  there  was  a 
brook.  Their  supper,  as  it  consisted  of  a 
bowl  of  bread  and  milk  for  each,  was  very 
portable,  and  they  had  accordingly  gone 
down  to  their  stone  seat  to  eat  it,  as  they 
often  did  on  pleasant  summer  evenings.  The 
stone  seat  was  in  such  a  position  that  the  set- 
ting sun  shone  very  cheerily  upon  it.  On  this 
occasion,  Rollo  had  finished  his  milk,  and  was 
just  going  down  to  the  brook  by  a  little  path 
which  led  that  way,  in  order  to  see  if  there 
were  any  fishes  in  the  water;  while  Jane  was 
giving  the  last  spoonful  of  her  milk  to  their 
kitten.  On  the  stone  near  where  Jane  was  sit- 
ting was  a  small  bird-cage.  This  cage  was  one 
which  Jane  used  to  put  her  kitten  in.  The 
kitten  was  of  a  mottled  color,  which  gave  to 
its  fur  somewhat  the  appearance  of  spots ;  and 
so  J  ane  called  the  little  puss  her  tiger.  As  it 
War>  obviously  proper  that  a  tiger  should  be 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  13 


kept  in  a  cage,  Jane  had  taken  a  canary  bird- 
cage, which  she  found  one  day  in  the  garret, 
and  had  used  it  to  put  the  kitten  in.  As  she 
took  the  precaution  never  to  keep  the  prisoner 
shut  up  long  at  a  time,  and  as  she  almost 
always  fed  it  in  the  cage,  the  kitten  generally 
made  no  objections  to  going  in  whenever  Jane 
desired  it. 

**Here  comes  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo. 

Jane  was  so  busy  pouring  the  spoonful  of 
milk  through  the  bars  of  the  cage  into  a  little 
shallow  basin,  which  she  kept  for  the  purpose 
within,  that  she  could  not  look  up. 

*' He  is  coming  down  through  the  garden," 
said  Rollo;  "and  he  has  got  a  letter  in  his 
hand.    It's  from  mother,  I  know." 

So  saying,  Rollo  began  to  caper  about  with 
delight,  and  then  ran  off  to  meet  his  uncle. 

Jane  finished  the  work  of  pouring  out  the 
milk  as  soon  as  possible,  and  then  followed 
him.  They  soon  came  back  again,  however, 
accompanying  their  uncle,  and  conducting  him 
to  the  stone  seat,  where  the  children  sat  down 
to  hear  the  letter. 

** Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  **how  should  you 
like  to  go  to  England?" 

**To  go  to  England?"  said  Rollo,  in  a  tone  of 
exultation;  **very  much,  indeed." 

'* Should  you  dare  to  go  alone?"  said  Mr. 
George;  ''that  is,  with  nobody  to  take  care  of 
you?" 

•*Yes,  indeed!"  said  Rollo,  emphatically. 
••I  should  not  need  anybody  to  take  care  of 
me." 


14 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


**I  don't  know  but  you  will  have  togo, " 
said  Mr.  George;  *'and  not  only  take  care  of 
yourself,  but  of  Jane  besides/* 

*'Why,  am  I  to  go,  too?"  asked  Jane.  As 
she  said  this,  she  began  to  look  quite  alarmed. 

*'How  should  you  like  the  plan?"  said  Mr. 
George. 

**0,  I  should  not  dare  to  go,  *' said  Jane, 
shaking  her  head  with  a  very  serious  air.  **I 
should  not  dare  to  go  at  all,  unless  I  had  some- 
body to  take  care  of  me  bigger  than  Rollo. " 

**Ha!"  exclaimed  Rollo,  ''I  could  take  care 
of  you  perfectly  well.  I  could  buy  the  tickets 
and  show  you  down  to  supper,  and  help  you 
over  the  plank  at  the  landings,  and  everything 
else." 

Rollo's  experience  of  steamer  life  had  been 
confined  to  trips  on  Long  Island  Sound,  or  up 
and  down  the  Hudson  River. 

**I  suppose  you  would  be  dreadfully  sick  on 
the  way,"  said  Mr.  George. 

'*0,  no,"  said  Rollo,  should  not  be  sick. 
What's  the  use  of  being  sick?  Besides,  I  never 
am  sick  in  a  steamboat." 

**No,"  said  Jane,  shaking  her  head  and  look- 
ing quite  anxious;  *'I  should  not  dare  to  go 
with  you  at  all.  I  should  not  dare  to  go  unless 
my  mother  were  here  to  go  with  me ;  or  my 
father,  at  least." 

**I  am  afraid  you  will  have  to  go,"  said  Mr. 
George,  ** whether  you  are  afraid  to  or  not." 

**That  I  shall  have  to  go?"  repeated  Jane. 

•'Yes,"  replied  Mr.  George.  **Your  father 
has  written  me  that  he  is  not  well  enough  to 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC,  15 


come  home,  and  I  am  to  send  you  and  Rollo 
out  in  the  next  steamer.  So  that  you  see  you 
have  nothing  to  say  or  to  do  about  it.  All  you 
have  to  do  is  to  submit  to  destiny." 

Jane  did  not  know  very  precisely  what  was 
meant  by  the  phrase,  submitting  to  destiny ; 
but  she  understood  very  well  that,  in  this  case, 
it  meant  that  she  must  go  to  England  to  join 
her  father  and  mother,  whether  she  liked  the 
the  plan  or  not.  She  was  silent  a  moment, 
and  looked  very  thoughtful.  She  then  put 
forth  her  hand  to  her  kitten,  which  was  just  at 
that  moment  coming  out  of  the  cage,  having 
finished  drinking  the  milk  which  she  had  put 
there  for  it,  and  took  it  into  her  lap,  saying  at 
the  same  time : 

**Well,  then,  I  will  go;  only  you  must  let  me 
take  my  Tiger  with  me.  *  * 

*'That  you  can  do,"  said  Mr.  George.  **I  am 
very  willing  to  compromise  the  matter  with 
you  in  that  way.  You  can  take  Tiger  with 
you,  if  you  choose.  * ' 

**And  the  cage,  too?"  said  Jane,  putting  her 
hand  upon  the  ring  at  the  top  of  it. 

**Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  **and  the  cage,  too." 

**Well!"  said  Jane,  speaking  in  a  tone  of 
great  satisfaction  and  joyousness,  **then  1  will 
go.  Get  into  the  cage,  Tiger,  and  we'll  go 
and  get  ready." 

The  steamer  was  to  sail  in  about  a  week 
from  this  time.  So  Mr.  George  proceeded 
immediately  to  New  York  to  engage  passage. 
When  Rollo's  aunt,  who  had  had  the  care  of 
him  and  Jane  during  the  absence  of  Mr.  and 


16  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


Mrs.  Holiday,  heard  how  soon  the  steamer 
would  sail,  she  said  that  she  did  not  think 
that  that  would  afford  time  enough  to  get  the 
children  ready. 

**0,  it  takes  no  time,"  said  Mr.  George,  •'to 
get  people  ready  to  go  to  Europe.  Put  into 
a  trunk  plenty  of  plain  common  clothing  for 
the  voyage,  and  the  work  is  done.  As  for  the 
rest,  people  can  generally  find  pretty  much 
everything  they  want  on  the  other  side." 

Mr.  George  went  to  New  York  to  engage  the 
passage  for  the  children.  And  inasmuch  as 
many  of  the  readers  of  this  book  who  reside 
in  the  country  may  never  have  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  witnessing  the  arrangements  con- 
nected with  Atlantic  steamers,  they  may  per- 
haps like  to  know  how  this  was  done.  In  the 
first  place,  it  was  necessary  to  get  a  permit  to 
go  on  board  the  ship.  The  crowds  of  people 
in  New  York,  who  are  always  going  to  and 
fro,  are  so  great,  and  the  interest  felt  in  these 
great  steamships  is  so  strong,  that  if  everybody 
were  allowed  free  access  and  egress  to  them, 
the  decks  and  cabins  of  the  vessels  would  be 
always  in  confusion.  So  they  build  a  bar- 
ricade across  the  great  pier  at  which  the  ships 
lie,  with  ponderous  gates,  one  large  one  for 
carts  and  carriages,  and  another  smaller  one 
for  people  on  foot,  opening  through  it,  and  no 
one  is  admitted  without  a  ticket.  Mr.  George 
went  to  the  office  in  Wall  Street  and  procured 
such  a  ticket,  wliich  one  of  the  clerks  in  at- 
tendance there  gave  him,  on  his  saying  that 


ROtLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  11 


he  wished  to  go  on  board  to  select  a  state  room 
for  some  passengers. 

Provided  with  this  ticket,  Mr.  George  took 
an  omnibus  at  Wall  Street  and  rode  up  to 
Canal  Street.  At  Canal  Street  he  took  another 
omnibus,  which  carried  him  nearly  to  the 
East  River.  There  he  left  the  omnibus,  and 
proceeded  the  rest  of  the  way  on  foot.  The 
crowd  of  people  on  the  sidewalks  going  and 
coming,  and  of  carts,  drays,  wagons,  and 
coaches  in  the  street,  was  immense.  There 
was  one  crossing  where,  for  some  time,  Mr. 
George  could  not  get  over^  so  innumerable 
and  closely  wedged  together  were  the  vehicles 
of  all  descriptions  that  occupied  the  way. 
There  were  many  people  that  were  stopped 
with  him  on  the  sidewalk.  Among  them  was 
a  servant  girl,  with  a  little  boy  under  her 
charge,  whom  she  was  leading  by  the  hand. 
The  girl  looked  very  anxious,  not  knowing  how 
to  get  across  the  street. 

'*Let  me  carry  the  child  across  for  you,  *'  said 
Mr.  George. 

So  saying  he  took  the  child  up  gently,  but 
quickly,  in  his  arms,  and  watching  a  momen- 
tary opening  in  the  stream  of  carriages,  he 
pressed  through,  the  servant  girl  following 
him.  He  set  the  boy  down  upon  the  sidewalk. 
The  girl  said  that  she  was  very  much  obliged 
to  him,  indeed:  and  then  Mr.  George  went  on. 

Just  then  a  small  and  ragged  boy  held  out 
his  hand,  and  with  a  most  woe-begone  expres- 
sion of  countenance  and  a  piteous  tone  of  voice, 
begged  Mr.  George  to  give  him  a  few  pennies, 

2  Atlantic 


1§  ROLLO  on  the  ATLANTIC. 


to  keep  him  from  starving.  Mr.  George  took 
no  notice  of  him,  but  passed  on.  A  moment 
afterward  he  turned  round  to  look  at  the  boy 
again.  He  saw  him  take  a  top  out  of  his 
pocket,  and  go  to  spinning  it  upon  the  side- 
walk, and  then,  suddenly  seeing  some  other 
boys,  the  young  rogue  caught  up  his  top  and 
ran  after  them  with  shouts  of  great  hilarity 
and  glee.  He  was  an  imposter.  Mr.  George 
knew  this  when  he  refused  to  give  him  any 
money. 

Mr.  George  then  went  on  again.  He  came, 
at  length,  to  the  great  gates  which  led  to  the 
pier.  There  was  a  man  just  within  the  gate, 
walking  to  and  fro,  near  the  door  of  a  sort 
of  office,  or  lodge,  which  he  kept  there.  Mr. 
George  attempted  to  open  the  gate. 

*' Please  show  your  ticket,  sir,*'  said  he. 

Mr.  George  took  out  his  ticket  and  gave  it  to 
the  porter,  whereupon  the  porter  opened  the 
gate  and  let  him  in. 

Mr.  George  found  himself  under  an  enor- 
mous roof,  which  spread  itself  like  a  vast 
canopy  over  his  head,  and  extended  from  side 
to  side  across  the  pier.  Under  this  vast  shed 
laborers  were  wheeling  boxes  and  bales  of 
merchandise  to  and  fro,  while  small  steam 
engines  of  curious  forms  and  incessant  activity 
were  at  work  hoisting  coal  on  board  the  ships 
from  lighters  alongside,  and  in  other  similar 
operations.  There  were  two  monstrous  steam- 
ships lying  at  this  pier,  one  on  each  side.  Mr. 
George  turned  toward  the  one  on  the  left 
There  was  v.  long  flight  of  steps  leading  up 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  19 


from  the  pier  to  the  decks  of  this  ship.  It  was 
formed  by  a  staging,  which  extended  from  the 
pier  to  the  bulwarks  of  the  ship,  like  a  stair- 
case, with  a  railing  on  each  side.  Mr.  George 
ascended  these  steps  to  the  bulwarks,  and 
thence  descended  by  a  short  flight  of  steps  to 
the  deck  itself,  and  then  went  along  the  deck 
till  he  came  to  the  door  leading  to  the  cabins. 

He  found  within  quite  a  number  of  cabins, 
arranged  on  different  floors,  like  the  different 
stories  of  a  house.  These  cabins  were  very 
resplendent  with  gilding  and  carving,  and 
were  adorned  with  curtains  and  mirrors  on 
every  side.  They  presented  to  Mr.  George, 
as  he  walked  through  them,  a  very  imposing 
spectacle.  Along  the  sides  of  them  were  a 
great  many  little  bed  rooms,  called  state 
rooms.  These  state  rooms  were  all  very  beau- 
tifully finished,  and  were  furnished  with  every 
convenience  which  passengers  could  require. 
Mr,  George  selected  two  of  these  state  rooms. 
They  were  two  that  were  adjoining  to  each 
other,  and  they  were  connected  by  a  door. 
There  were  two  beds,  or  rather  bed  places,  in 
each  state  room,  one  above  the  other.  Mr. 
George  chose  the  lower  berth  in  one  state 
room  for  Rollo,  and  the  lower  one  in  the  next 
state  room  for  Jane.  When  he  had  chosen 
the  berths  in  this  manner,  he  wrote  the  name 
of  each  of  the  children  on  a  card,  and  then 
pinned  the  cards  up  upon  the  curtains  of  the 
respective  berths. 

''There!"  said  he.  ''That  is  all  right.  Now 
perhaps  some  lady  will  take  the  other  berth 


20 


ROLLO  ON  THE  AtLANTIC 


in  Jane's  room,  and  some  gentleman  that  in 
Rollo's.  Then  they  will  both  have  company 
in  their  rooms.  Otherwise  I  must  find  some- 
body to  take  care  of  them  both." 

Mr.  George  then  left  the  ship  and  went  back 
to  the  office  in  Wall  Street,  to  engage  the 
berths  and  pay  the  passage  money.  The  office 
was  spacious  and  handsomely  furnished,  and 
there  were  several  clerks  in  it  writing  at 
desks. 

There  were  two  rooms,  and  in  the  back  room 
was  a  table,  with  large  plans  of  the  ship  upon 
it,  on  which  all  the  cabins  and  state  rooms  of 
the  several  deciis  were  represented  in  their 
proper  positions.  The  names  of  the  various 
passengers  that  had  engaged  passage  in  the 
ship  were  written  in  the  several  state  rooms 
which  they  had  chosen.  The  clerk  wrote  the 
names.  Master  Holiday  and  Miss  Holiday,  in 
the  state  rooms  which  lAr.  George  pointed  out 
to  him,  and,  when  he  had  done  so,  Mr.  George 
looked  over  all  :.he  other  names  that  had  been 
written  in  before,  to  see  if  there  were  any 
persons  whom  he  knew  among  them.  To  his 
great  gratification  he  found  that  there  were 
several  such. 

**Yes,"  said  he,  as  he  rose  up  from  the  exam- 
ination of  the  plan,  **  there  are  several  gentle- 
men there  who  will  be  very  ready,  under  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  to  do  Mr.  Holiday 
the  favor  of  looking  after  his  children  during 
the  voyage." 

Being  thus,  in  a  measure,  relieved  of  all  solic- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  21 


itude,  Mr.  George  walked  about  the  room  a 
few  minutes,  examining  the  pictures  of  the 
several  steamers  of  the  line  which  were  hang- 
ing on  the  walls,  and  then  went  away. 


22  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  EMBARKATION. 

The  time  fixed  for  the  sailing  of  the  steamer 
was  on  Tuesday  morning;  and  Mr.  George, 
in  order  to  have  time  to  communicate  with 
some  of  the  gentlemen  to  whose  care  he  in-  * 
tended  to  intrust  the  two  children,  planned 
his  journey  to  New  York  so  as  to  arrive  there 
in  good  season  on  Monday.  He  supposed  that 
he  should  be  able,  without  any  difficulty,  to 
find  one  or  the  other  of  them  in  the  afternoon 
or  evening  of  that  day. 

'*And  if  worst  comes  to  the  worst,**  added 
he  to  himself,  in  his  reflections  on  the  subject, 
**I  can  certainly  find  them  at  the  ship,  by  going 
on  board  an  hour  or  two  before  she  sails,  and 
watching  the  plank  as  the  passengers  come  up 
from  the  pier.** 

Worst  did  come  to  the  worst,  it  seems ;  for 
when  Mr.  George  came  home  at  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  on  Monday,  and  RoUo  came 
up  to  him  very  eagerly  in  the  parlor  of  the 
boarding  house,  to  ask  him  whom  he  had 
found  to  take  charge  of  them,  he  was  forced 
to  confess  that  he  had  not  found  any  one. 

**I  am  glad  of  it!**  exclaimed  Rollo,  joyfully. 
'*I  am  glad  of  it!  I  like  it  a  great  deal  bet- 
ter to  take  care  of  ourselves." 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  23 


He  then  began  dancing  about  the  room,  and 
finally  ran  off  in  great  glee,  to  inform  Jane 
of  the  prospect  before  them.  Rollo  was  very 
ambitious  of  being  considered  a  man. 

He  found  Jane  sitting  on  the  stairs  with 
another  child  of  her  own  age,  that  she  had 
become  acquainted  with  at  the  boarding  house ; 
for  it  was  at  a  boarding  house,  and  not  at  a 
hotel,  that  Mr.  George  had  taken  lodgings  for 
his  party.  This  child's  name  was  Lottie; 
that  is,  she  was  commonly  called  Lottie,  though 
her  real  name  was  Charlotte.  She  was  a  beau- 
tiful child,  with  beaming  black  eyes,  a  radiant 
face  and  dark  glossy  curls  of  hair  hanging  down 
upon  her  neck.  Jane  and  Lottie  were  playing 
together  in  a  sort  of  recess  at  a  landing  of  the 
stairs,  where  there  was  a  sofa  and  a  window. 
They  had  Tiger  and  the  cage  with  them.  The 
door  was  open  and  Tiger  was  playing  about 
the  cage,  going  in  and  out  at  her  pleasure. 

'*Jane,*'  said  Rollo,  **uncle  George  cannot 
find  anylDody  to  take  care  of  you,  and  so  I  am 
going  to  take  care  of  you.  * ' 

Jane  did  not  answer. 

**Are  you  going  to  England?"  asked  Lottie. 

•*Yes,"  replied  Jane,  mournfully;  **and 
there  is  nobody  to  go  with  us,  to  take  care 
of  us.'* 

*'I  went  to  England  once,"  said  Lottie. 
**Did  you?"  asked  Jane;  *'and  did  you  go 
across  the  Atlantic  Ocean?" 
**Yes,"  said  Lottie. 

** Of  course  she  did,"  Sraid  Rollo;  '* there  is 
jio  other  way." 


24  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

**And  how  did  you  get  along?**  said  Jane. 

*'0,  very  well,**  said  Lottie;  '*we  had  a  very 
good  time  playing  about  the  decks  and  cabins." 

Jane  felt  somewhat  reassured  by  these  dec- 
larations of  Lottie,  and  she  even  began  to  think 
that  if  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  in  cross- 
ing the  Atlantic  but  to  play  about  the  decks 
and  cabins  all  the  way,  there  was  a  possibility 
that  Rollo  might  be  able  to  take  care  of  her. 

"My  uncle  is  going  on  a  voyage,  too,  to- 
morrow,** added  Lottie. 

**What  uncle?*'  asked  Jane. 
,   '*My  uncle  Thomas,'*  said  Lottie.  ''He 
lives  in  this  house.  He  is  packing  up  his  trunk 
now.    He  is  going  to  Charleston.    I  wish  I 
were  going  with  him.'* 

**Do  you  like  to  go  to  sea?**  asked  Jane. 

**Yes,**  said  Lottie,  pretty  well.  I  like  to 
see  the  sailors  climb  up  the  masts  and  rig- 
ging ;  and  I  like  the  cabins,  because  there  are 
so  many  sofas  in  them,  and  so  many  places  to 
hide.'* 

Little  Jane  felt  much  less  uneasiness  at  the 
idea  of  going  to  sea  after  hearing  Lottie  give 
such  favorable  accounts  of  her  own  experience. 
Still  she  was  not  entirely  satisfied.  As  for 
Rollo,  his  eagerness  to  go  independent  of  all 
supervision  did  not  arise  wholly  from  vanity 
and  presumption.  He  was  now  twelve  years 
of  age,  and  that  is  an  age  which  fairly  qualifies 
a  boy  to  bear  some  considerable  burdens  of 
responsibility  and  duty.  At  any  rate,  it  is  an 
age  at  which  it  ought  to  be  expected  that  the 
powers  and  characteristics  of  manhood  should, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  25 


at  least,  begin  to  be  developed.  It  is  right, 
therefore,  that  a  boy  at  that  age  should  begin 
to  feel  something  like  a  man,  and  to  desire  that 
opportunities  should  arise  for  exercising  the 
powers  which  he  finds  thus  developing  them- 
selves and  growing  stronger  every  day  within 
him. 

The  fact  that  Lottie's  uncle  Thomas  was 
going  to  embark  for  Charleston  on  the  same 
day  that  had  been  fixed  for  Rollo's  embarka- 
tion for  Europe  might  seem  at  first  view  a  very 
unimportant  circumstance.  It  happened,  how- 
ever, that  it  led,  in  fact,  to  very  serious  conse- 
quences. The  case  was  this.  It  is  necessary, 
however,  first  to  explain,  for  the  benefit  of 
those  readers  of  this  book  who  may  never  have 
had  opportunities  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  usages  of  great  cities,  that  there  are  two 
separate  systems  in  use  in  such  cities  for  the 
transportation  respectively  of  baggage,  and 
of  persons,  from  place  to  place.  For  bag- 
gage and  parcels,  there  are  what  are  called 
expresses.  The  owners  of  these  expresses 
have  offices  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  where 
books  are  kept,  in  which  a  person  may  go  and 
have  an  entry  made  of  any  trunk,  or  bag,  or 
other  package  which  he  may  wish  to  have  con- 
veyed to  any  place.  He  enters  in  the  book 
what  the  parcel  is,  where  it  is,  and  where  he 
wishes  to  have  it  taken.  The  express  man 
then,  who  has  a  great  number  of  wagons 
employed  for  this  purpose,  sends  for  the  parcel 
by  the  first  wagon  that  comes  in. 

For  persons  who  wish  to  be  conveyed  from 


26  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


place  to  place,  there  are  carriages  all  the  time 
standing  at  certain  points  by  the  sides  of  the 
streets,  ready  for  any  one  who  calls  them,  and 
there  are  also  stables  where  carriages  are 
always  in  readiness.  Now,  it  so  happened 
that  Lottie's  uncle  Thomas  had  concluded  to 
have  his  trunk  taken  down  to  the  Charleston 
ship  by  the  express,  intending  to  walk  to  the 
pier  himself  from  his  office,  which  was  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  city,  not  far  from  the  pier 
where  his  ship  was  lying.  So  he  went  to  an 
express  office,  and  there,  at  his  dictation,  the 
clerk  made  the  following  entry  in  his  book — 

Trunk  at  780  Broadway,  to  steamer  Caro- 
lina, Pier  No.  4,  North  River.  To-morrow,  at 
half  past  nine  o'clock. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  George,  as  he 
required  a  carriage  to  take  the  children  down, 
did  not  go  to  the  express  office  at  all.  He 
intended  to  take  their  trunk  on  the  carriage. 
So  he  went  to  the  stable,  and  there,  at  his 
dictation,  the  clerk  made  on  the  book  there  the 
following  entry — 

Carriage  at  780  Broadway.  To-morrow,  at 
half  past  nine  o'clock. 

In  accordance  with  this  arrangement,  there- 
fore, a  little  after  nine  o'clock,  both  the  trunks 
were  got  ready  at  the  boarding  house,  each  in 
its  own  room.  The  chambermaid  in  Rollo's 
room,  when  she  saw  that  the  trunk  was  ready, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


27 


offered  to  carry  it  down,  which,  as  she  was  a 
good  strong  Irish  girl,  she  could  very  easily 
do.  She  accordingly  took  it  up  in  her  arms  and 
carried  it  down  stairs  to  the  front  entry,  and 
put  it  down  near  the  door.  One  of  the  waiters 
of  the  house  was  standing  by  when  she  did  this. 

•*What  is  that,  Mary?"  said  he. 

*'It  is  a  trunk  to  go  to  the  steamer, '  ' said 
Mary.  *' There  is  a  man  coming  for  it  pretty 
soon  " 

She  meant,  of  course,  that  it  was  to  go  to 
the  Liverpool  steamer,  and  the  man  who  was 
to  come  for  it  was  the  driver  of  the  carriage 
that  Mr.  George  had  engaged.  She  knew 
nothing  about  any  other  trunk,  as  the  room 
which  Lottie's  uncle  occupied  was  attended  by 
another  chambermaid. 

« 

Mary,  having  deposited  the  trunk  in  its 
place,  returned  up  stairs,  to  assist  in  getting 
RoUo  and  Jane  ready.  A  moment  afterward 
the  express  man,  whom  Lottie's  uncle  had  sent 
for  his  trunk  rang  the  door  bell.  The  waiter 
opened  the  door. 

**I  came  for  a  trunk,"  said  the  man,  **to  take 
to  the  steamer.** 

**Yes,"  said  the  waiter.  **Here  it  is,  all 
ready.    They  have  just  brought  it  down." 

So  the  express  man  took  up  the  trunk,  and, 
carrying  it  out,  put  it  on  his  wagon;  then, 
mounting  on  his  seat,  he  drove  away. 

Five  minutes  afterward,  the  carriage,  which 
Mr.  George  had  engaged  arrived  at  the  door. 
Mr.  George  and  the  children  came  down  the 


^  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


stairs.    Mr.  George,  as  soon  as  he  reached  the 
lower  hall,  inquired, — 
Where  is  the  trunk 

**The  man  has  taken  it,  sir,  *'  said  he. 

**Ah,  he  has,  has  he?    That  is  all  right." 

So  Mr.  George  and  the  children  got  into  the 
carriage,  the  driver  holding  the  door  open  for 
them  as  they  did  so.  As  the  drivei  was  about 
to  shut  the  door,  Mr.  George  said, — 

** Steamer  Pacific,  foot  of  Canal  Street." 

The  driver,  taking  this  for  his  direction, 
mounted  his  box,  and  drove  rapidly  away. 

When  the  party  arrived  at  the  gates  which 
led  to  the  pier  they  found  a  great  concourse 
of  people  and  a  throng  of  carts  and  carriages 
blocking  up  the  way.  The  great  gate  was  open, 
and  a  stream  of  carriages  containing  passen- 
gers, and  of  carts  and  express  wagons  convey- 
ing baggage,  was  pouring  in.  Mr.  George's 
carriage  was  admitted,  at  length,  in  its  turn, 
and  drove  on  until  it  came  opposite  the  long 
stairway  which  led  on  board  the  ship.  Here 
it  stopped,  and  Mr.  George  and  the  children 
got  out. 

Where  is  the  trunk?"  said  Mr.  George, 
looking  before  and  behind  the  carriage. 
**Why,  where  is  the  trunk?  You  have  lost  the 
trunk  off  of  the  carriage,  driver,  in  coming 
down. '  * 

'*No,  sir,"  said  the  driver;  ** there  was  no 
trunk." 

** There  certainly  was,"  said  Mr.  George; 
**and  they  told  me  that  you  had  put  it  on." 
*'No»  sir,"  said  the  driver.     **Tbis  is  the 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  29 


first  time  I  have  heard  anything  about  any 
trunk.  *  * 

Mr.  George  was  now  quite  seriously  alarmed. 

He  looked  about  this  way  and  that,  and  did 
not  seem  to  know  what  to  do.  In  the  mean- 
time the  line  of  carriages  from  behind  pressed 
on,  and  the  drivers  of  them  began  to  call  out 
to  clear  the  way.  Mr.  George  found  himself 
compelled  to  decide  upon  something  very 
promptly. 

** Drive  over  to  the  other  side  of  the  pier," 
said  he,  '*and  wait  there  till  I  come.** 

Then,  taking  the  two  children  by  the  hand, 
he  began  to  lead  them  up  a  long  plank  by 
which  the  people  were  going  on  board. 

Mr.  George  said  nothing,  but  continued  to 
lead  the  children  along,  the  throng  before  and 
behind  them  being  so  dense  that  they  could 
not  see  at  all  where  they  were  going.  When 
they  reached  the  top  of  the  stairway,  they 
descended  by  a  few  steps,  and  so  came  on 
board.  The  children  then  found  themselves 
moving  along  what  seemed  a  narrow  passage 
way,  amid  crowds  of  people,  until  at  length 
they  came  to  a  short  and  steep  flight  of  steps, 
which  led  up  to  what  seemed  to  Jane  a  sort  of 
a  roof.  The  balustrade,  or  what  served  as 
balustrade  for  these  steps,  was  made  of  rope, 
and  painted  green.  By  help  of  this  rope,  and 
by  some  lifting  on  the  part  of  Mr.  George, 
Rollo  and  Jane  succeeded  in  getting  up,  and, 
at  length,  found  themselves  in  a  place  where 
they  could  see. 

They  were  on  what  was  called  the  promenade 


30  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


deck.  There  were  masts,  and  a  great  smoke- 
pipe,  and  a  great  amount  of  ropes  and  rigging 
rising  up  above  them,  and  there  were  many 
other  curious  objects  around.  The  children 
had,  however,  no  time  to  attend  to  these  things, 
for  Mr.  George  led  them  rapidly  along  to  that 
part  of  the  promenade  deck  which  was  opposite 
to  the  long  plank,  where  the  people  were  com- 
ing up  from  the  pier.  Mr.  George  left  the  chil- 
dren here  for  a  minute  or  two,  while  he  went 
and  brought  two  camp  stools  for  them  to  sit 
upon.  He  placed  these  stools  near  the  edge 
of  the  deck.  There  was  a  railing  to  keep  them 
from  falling  off. 

There,  children,*'  said  he.  **Now  you  can 
sit  here  and  see  the  people  come  on  board.  It 
is  a  very  funny  thing  to  see.  I  am  going  after 
the  trunk.  You  must  not  mind  if  I  don't  come 
back  for  a  long  time.  The  ship  will  not  sail 
yet  for  two  hours.  You  must  stay  here,  how- 
ever, all  the  time.  You  must  not  go  away 
from  this  place  on  any  consideration." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  went  away.  A 
moment  afterward  the  children  saw  him  going 
down  the  plank  to  the  pier.  As  soon  as  he 
reached  the  pier  he  forced  his  way  through  the 
crowd  to  the  other  side  of  it,  where  the  carri- 
age was  standing.  The  children  watched  him 
all  the  time.  When  he  reached  the  carriage, 
they  saw  that  he  stopped  a  moment  to  say  a 
few  words  to  the  driver,  and  then  hastily  got 
into  the  carriage.  The  driver  shut  the  door, 
mounted  upon  the  box,  and  then  drove  out 
through  the  great  gate  and  disappeared. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  SI 


What  Mr.  George  said  to  the  driver  was  this. 

'*Now,  driver,  we  have  got  just  two  hours  to 
find  that  trunk.  I  pay  you  full  fare  for  the 
carriage  for  the  two  hours  at  any  rate,  and  if 
we  find  the  trunk  and  get  it  on  board  that  ship 
before  she  sails,  I  pay  you  five  dollars  over. 
Now  take  me  up  to  780  Broadway  as  quick  as 
you  can  go.'* 

When  the  children  found  themselves  thus 
left,  they  could  not  help  feeling  for  a  moment 
a  very  painful  sensation  of  loneliness,  although 
they  were,  in  fact,  surrounded  with  crowds, 
and  were  in  the  midst  of  a  scene  of  the  great- 
est excitement.  Even  RoUo  found  his  cour- 
age and  resolution  ebbing  away.  He  sat  for 
a  little  time  without  speaking,  and  gazing  upon 
the  scene  of  commotion  which  he  saw  exhibited 
before  him  on  the  pier  with  a  vague  and  bewil- 
dered feeling  of  anxiety  and  fear.  Presently 
he  turned  to  look  at  Jennie.  He  saw  that  she 
was  trying  to  draw  her  handkerchief  from  her 
pocket,  and  that  tears  were  slowly  trickling 
down  her  cheek. 

Jennie,"  said  he,  don't  cry.  Uncle 
George  will  find  the  trunk  pretty  soon,  and 
come  back, 

It  might,  perhaps,  be  supposed  that  Rollo 
would  have  been  made  to  feel  more  dispirited 
and  depressed  himself  from  witnessing  Jennie's 
dejection ;  but  the  effect  was  really  quite  the  con- 
trary of  this.  In  fact,  it  is  found  to  be  uni- 
versally true,  that  nothing  tends  to  nerve  the 
heart  of  man  to  greater  resolution  and  energy 
in  encountering  and  struggling  against  the 


32  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

dangers  and  ills  that  surround  him,  than  to 
have  a  woman  near  him  and  dependent  upon 
him,  and  to  see  her  looking  up  to  him  for  pro- 
tection and  support.  It  is  true  that  Rollo  was 
not  a  man,  nor  was  Jennie  a  woman.  But 
even  in  their  early  years  the  instincts  and  sym- 
pathies, which  exercise  so  powerful  a  control 
over  human  heart  in  later  periods  of  life,  began 
to  develop  themselves  in  embryo  forms.  So 
Rollo  found  all  his  courage  and  confidence 
coming  back  again  when  he  saw  Jennie  in 
tears. 

Besides,  he  reflected  that  he  had  a  duty  to 
perform.  He  perceived  that  the  time  had  now 
come  for  him  to  show  by  his  acts  that  he  was 
really  able  to  do  what  he  had  been  so  eager  to 
undertake.  He  determined,  therefore,  that 
instead  of  yielding  to  the  feelings  of  fear  and 
despondency  which  his  situation  was  so  well 
calculated  to  inspire,  he  would  nerve  himself 
with  resolution,  and  meet  the  emergencies  of 
the  occasion  like  a  man. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done,  as  he  thought, 
was  to  amuse  Jane,  and  divert  her  attention, 
if  possible,  from  her  fears.  So  he  began  to 
talk  to  her  about  what  was  taking  place  before 
them  on  the  pier. 

'*Here  comes  another  carriage,  Jennie,"  said 
he.  "Look,  look!  See  what  a  parcel  of 
trunks  they  have  got  on  behind.  That  passen- 
ger has  not  lost  his  trunks,  at  any  rate.  See 
all  these  orange  women,  too,  Jennie,  standing 
on  the  edge  of  the  pier.  How  many  oranges 
they  have  got.     Do  you  suppose  they  will  sell 


o 
> 

H 
> 

r 
> 
z 
o 
w 
o 


2: 


o 
JO 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  33 


them  all?  O  Jennie,  Jennie,  look  there!  See 
that  great  pile  of  trunks  going  up  into  the 
air." 

Jane  looked  in  the  direction  where  Rollo 
pointed,  and  saw  a  large  pile  of  trunks  and 
boxes,  eight  or  ten  in  all,  slowly  rising  into 
the  air,  being  drawn  up  by  means  of  a  mon- 
strous rope,  which  descended  from  a  system  of 
pulleys  and  machinery  above.  After  attain- 
ing a  considerable  height,  the  whole  mass 
slowly  moved  over  toward  the  ship,  and  after 
reaching  the  center  of  the  deck  it  began  to 
descend  again,  with  a  great  rattling  of  chains 
and  machinery,  until  it  disappeared  from  view 
somewhere  on  board. 

•*That  is  the  way  they  get  the  baggage  on 
board,  Jennie,'*  said  Rollo.  I  never  should 
have  thought  of  getting  baggage  on  board  in 
that  way;  should  you,  Jennie?  I  wonder 
where  the  trunks  go  to  when  the  rope  lets 
them  down.  It  is  in  some  great  black  hole,  I 
have  no  doubt,  down  in  the  ship.  The  next 
load  of  trunks  that  comes  I  have  a  great  mind 
to  go  and  see." 

**No,  no!**  said  Jane,  ** you  must  not  go  away. 
Uncle  George  said  that  we  must  not  move 
away  from  here  on  any  account." 

"So  he  did, "  said  Rollo.  ''Well,  I  won*t  go.  *' 

After  a  short  time,  Jennie  became  so  far 
accustomed  to  her  situation  as  to  feel  in  some 
degree  relieved  of  her  fears.  In  fact,  she 
began  to  find  it  quite  amusing  to  watch  the 
various  phases  which  the  exciting  scene  that 
was  passing  before  her  assumed.  Rollo  endeav. 

8  Atlantio 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


ored  still  more  to  encourage  and  cheer  her,  by 
frequently  assuring  her  that  their  uncle  would 
soon  come  back.  He  did  this,  indeed,  from 
the  best  of  motives;  but  it  was  not  wise  or  even 
right  to  do  so,  for  he  could  not  possibly  know 
when  his  uncle  would  come  back,  or  even 
whether  he  would  come  back  at  all. 

In  the  meantime,  the  crowd  of  carriages  and 
people  coming  and  going  on  the  pier  was  con- 
tinually increasing  as  the  time  for  the  depart- 
ure of  the  ship  drew  nigh.  There  were  more 
than  one  hundred  passengers  to  come  on 
board,  and  almost  every  one  of  these  had  many 
friends  to  come  with  them,  to  bid  them  good 
by;  so  that  there  was  a  perpetual  movement 
of  carriages  coming  and  going  upon  the  pier, 
and  the  long  plank  which  led  up  to  the  ship 
was  crowded  with  people  ascending  and 
descending  in  continuous  streams.  The  paddle 
wheels  were  all  the  time  in  motion,  though 
the  ship,  being  yet  fastened  to  the  shore,  could 
not  move  away.  The  wheels,  however,  pro- 
duced a  great  commotion  in  the  water,  cover- 
ing the  surface  of  it  with  rushing  foam,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  steam  was  issuing  from  the 
escape  pipe  with  a  roaring  sound,  which 
seemed  to  crown  and  cover,  as  it  were,  without 
at  all  subduing  the  general  din. 

Rollo  had  one  very  extraordinary  proof  of 
the  deep  and  overwhelming  character  of  the 
excitement  of  this  scene,  in  an  accident  that 
occurred  in  the  midst  of  it,  which,  for  a 
moment,  frightened  him  extremely.  The  pier 
where  the  steamer  was  lying  was  surrounded 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  35 


by  other  piers  and  docks,  all  crowded  with 
boats  and  shipping.  It  happened  that  not 
very  far  from  him  there  lay  a  small  vessel,  a 
sloop,  which  had  come  down  the  North  River, 
and  was  now  moored  at  the  head  of  the  dock. 
There  was  a  family  on  board  this  sloop,  and 
while  Rollo  was  by  chance  looking  that  way, 
he  saw  a  small  child,  perhaps  seven  or  eight 
years  old,  fall  off  from  the  deck  of  the  sloop 
into  the  water.  The  child  did  not  sink,  being 
buoyed  up  by  her  clothes ;  and  as  the  tide  was 
flowing  strong  at  that  time,  an  eddy  of  the 
water  carried  her  slowly  along  away  from  the 
sloop  toward  the  shore.  The  child  screamed 
with  terror,  and  Rollo  could  now  and  then 
catch  the  sound  of  her  voice  above  the  roaring 
of  the  steam.  The  sailors  on  board  the  sloop 
ran  toward  the  boat,  and  began  to  let  it  down. 
Others  on  the  shore  got  ready  with  poles  and 
boat  hooks,  and  though  they  were  probably 
shouting  and  calling  aloud  to  one  another, 
Rollo  could  hear  nothing  but  now  and  then  the 
scream  of  the  child.  At  length  a  man  came 
running  down  a  flight  of  stone  steps  which  led 
from  the  pier  to  the  water  in  a  corner  of  the 
dock,  throwing  off  his  coat  and  shoes  as  he 
went  down.  He  plunged  into  the  water,  swam 
out  to  the  child,  seized  her  by  the  clothes  with 
one  hand,  and  with  the  other  swam  back  with 
her  toward  the  steps  and  there  they  were  both 
drawn  out  by  the  bystanders  together. 

This  scene,  however,  exciting  as  it  would 
have  been  under  any  other  circumstances,  pro- 
duced very  little  impression  upon  the  great 


36  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


crowd  that  was  engaged  about  the  steamer. 
A  few  boys  ran  that  way  to  see  how  the  affair 
would  result.  Some  others,  standing  on  the 
deck  of  the  ship  or  on  the  pier,  turned  and 
looked  in  the  direction  of  the  child.  Other- 
wise everything  went  on  the  same.  The  car- 
riages went  and  came,  the  people  walked 
eagerly  about  among  each  other,  exchanging 
farewells.  The  paddle  wheels  continued  their 
motion,  the  steam  pipe  kept  up  its  deafening 
roar,  and  the  piles  of  trunks  continued  to  rise 
into  the  air  and  swing  over  into  the  ship,  with- 
out any  interruption. 

The  time  passed  rapidly  on,  and  Mr.  George 
did  not  return.  At  length  but  few  new  carri- 
ages came  and  the  stream  of  people  on  the 
great  plank  seemed  to  flow  all  one  way,  and 
that  was  from  the  ship  to  the  pier;  while  the 
crowd  upon  the  pier  had  increased  until  it  had 
become  a  mighty  throng.  At  length  the  officer 
in  command  gave  orders  to  rig  the  tackle  to 
the  great  plank  stair,  with  a  view  to  heaving 
it  back  upon  the  pier.  The  last,  lingering  vis- 
itors to  the  ship,  who  had  come  to  take  leave 
of  their  friends,  hastily  bade  them  farewell 
and  ran  down  the  plank.  The  ship,  in  fact, 
was  just  on  the  point  of  casting  off  from  the 
pier,  when  suddenly  Mr.  George's  carriage 
appeared  at  the  great  gate.  It  came  in  among 
the  crowd  at  a  very  rapid  rate ;  but  still  it  was 
so  detained  by  the  obstructions  which  were  in 
the  way,  that  before  it  reached  its  stopping- 
place  the  plank  had  begun  slowly  to  rise  into 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  87 

the  air,  and  the  men  on  the  pier  had  begun  to 
throw  off  the  fastenings. 

*'You  are  too  late,  sir/'  said  a  man  to  Mr. 
George.    **  You  cannot  get  on  board. " 

**Put  that  trunk  on  board,'*  said  Mr.  George. 
''That's  all." 

The  man  took  up  the  trunk,  which  was  by  no 
means  heavy,  and  just  succeeded  in  passing  it 
through  into  a  sort  of  porthole,  near  the  engine, 
which  happened  to  be  open.  Mr.  George  then 
looked  up  to  the  place  where  he  had  left  the 
children,  and  shouted  out  to  them, — 

"Good  by,  children;  don't  be  afraid.  Your 
father  will  come  to  the  ship  for  you  at  Liver- 
pool. Good  by,  Jennie.  Rollo  will  take  excel- 
lent care  of  you.    Don't  be  afraid. '  * 

By  this  time  the  ship  was  slowly  and 
majestically  moving  away  from  the  pier;  and 
thus  it  happened  that  Rollo  and  Jennie  set  out 
on  the  voyage  to  Europe,  without  having  any 
one  to  take  them  in  charge. 


1 


&8  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANtlC. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DEPARTURE. 

The  moving  away  of  the  steamer  from  the 
pier  had  the  effect  of  producing  a  striking  illus- 
ion in  Jane's  mind. 

**Why,  RoUo!"  she  exclaimed,  looking  up  to 
RoUo,  quite  alarmed,  ''the  pier  is  sailing  away 
from  us,  and  all  the  people  on  it." 

''O,  no,**  said  Rollo,  "the  pier  is  not  sailing 
away.    We  are  sailing  away  ourselves.'* 

Jane  gazed  upon  the  receding  shore  with  a 
look  of  bewildered  astonishment.  Then  she 
added  in  a  very  sorrowful  and  desponding  tone : 

*'0,  RoUo!  you  told  me  that  uncle  George 
would  certainly  come  back ;  and  now  he  is  not 
coming  back  at  all.  *  * 

*'Well,  I  really  thought  he  would  come 
back,*'  said  Rollo.  "But  never  mind,  Jennie, 
we  shall  get  along  very  well.  We  shall  not 
have  to  get  out  of  this  ship  at  all  till  we  get  to 
Liverpool ;  and  we  shall  find  father  at  Liver- 
pool. He  will  come  on  board  for  us  at  Liver- 
pool, I  am  sure,  before  we  land;  and  mother, 
too,  I  dare  say.  Just  think  of  that,  Jennie! 
Just  think  of  that!*' 

This  anticipation  would  doubtless  have  had 
considerable  influence  in  calming  Jennie's 
mind,  if  she  had  had  any  opportunity  to  dwell 


kOLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  39 


upon  it;  but  her  thoughts  were  immediately 
diverted  to  the  spectacle  which  was  exhibiting 
itself  on  the  pier.  The  great  throng  of  people 
which  had  assembled  there  seemed  to  be  press- 
ing on  toward  the  end  of  the  pier,  accompany- 
ing the  ship,  as  it  were,  in  its  motion,  as  it 
glided  smoothly  away.  As  they  thus  crowded 
forward,  all  those  who  had  opportunity  to  do 
so  climbed  up  upon  boxes  and  bales  of  mer- 
chadise,  or  on  heaps  of  wood  or  coal,  or  on 
posts  or  beams  of  wood,  wherever  they  could 
find  any  position  which  would  raise  them  above 
the  general  level  of  the  crowd.  This  scene, 
of  course,  strongly  attracted  the  attention  both 
of  RoUo  and  of  Jane. 

And  here  it  must  be  remarked,  that  there 
are  three  distinct  scenes  of  bidding  farewell 
that  an  Atlantic  steamer  passes  through  in  put- 
ting to  sea.  In  the  first  place,  the  individual 
voyagers  take  leave  of  their  several  friends,  by 
tvords  of  good-by  and  other  personal  greetings, 
on  the  decks  and  in  the  cabins  of  the  ship,  be- 
fore she  leaves  the  pier.  Then,  secondly,  the 
company  of  passengers,  as  a  whole,  give  a 
good-by  to  the  whole  company  of  visitors,  who 
have  come  to  see  the  ship  sail,  and  who  remain 
standing  on  the  pier  as  the  vessel  goes  away. 
This  second  good-by  cannot  be  given  by  words, 
for  the  distance  is  too  great  to  allow  of  words 
being  used.  So  they  give  it  by  huzzas,  and 
by  the  waving  of  hats  and  handkerchiefs. 

This  second  farewell  was  now  about  to  be 
given.  The  gentlemen  on  the  pier  took  off 
their  hats,  and,   waving  them  in  the  air, 


40  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  / 

shouted  hurrah  in  concert,  three  times,  with 
great  energy.  The  company  of  passengers  on 
board  the  ship  then  responded,  by  shouting 
and  waving  their  hats  in  return.  The  ladies, 
both  on  the  pier  and  in  the  ship,  performed 
their  part  in  this  ceremony  by  waving  their 
handkerchiefs  and  clapping  their  hands.  By 
this  time  the  steamer,  which  had  been  rapidly 
increasing  the  speed  of  its  motion  all  the 
while,  was  now  getting  quite  out  into  the 
stream,  and  was  turning  rapidly  down  the 
river.  This  change  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  steamer  was  going  carried  the  pier  and  all 
the  people  that  were  upon  it  entirely  out  of  the 
children's  view,  and  they  saw  themselves  glid- 
ing rapidly  along  the  shore  of  the  river,  which 
was  formed  of  a  long  line  of  piers,  with  for- 
ests of  masts  surmounting  them,  and  long  ranges 
of  stores  and  warehouses  beyond.  Nearer  to 
the  steamer  on  the  water  of  the  river,  and  on 
either  had,  were  to  be  seen  sloops,  ships,  ferry 
boats,  scows  and  every  other  species  of  water 
craft,  gliding  to  and  fro  in  all  directions. 
While  gazing  with  great  interest  on  this  scene 
as  the  steamer  moved  along,  Jane  was  suddenly 
sartled  and  terrified  at  the  sound  of  a  heavy 
gun,  which  seemed  to  be  fired  close  to  her  ear. 
It  was  soon  evident  that  the  gun  had  been  fired 
from  on  board  the  steamer,  for  a  great  puff  of 
smoke  rose  up  into  the  air  from  the  bows  of 
the  vessel,  and  slowly  floated  away.  Immedi- 
ately afterward  another  gun  was  fired,  louder 
than  the  first. 
I  have  said  that  there  were  three  farewells. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  41 


The  first  is  that  of  the  individual  passengers 
to  their  individual  friends.  The  second  is  that 
of  the  whole  company  of  passengers  to  the 
company  of  spectators  on  the  pier.  The  third 
is  the  ship's  farewell  to  the  city.  Of  course, 
for  a  ship  to  speak  to  a  city,  a  very  loud  voice 
is  required.  So  they  provide  her  with  a  gun. 
In  fact,  a  great  steamer  proceeding  to  sea  may 
be  considered  as,  in  some  respects,  like  a 
mighty  animal.  The  engine  is  its  heart ;  the 
paddle  wheels  are  its  limbs ;  the  guns  are  its 
voice;  the  captain  is  its  head;  and,  finally, 
there  is  a  man  always  stationed  on  the  lookout 
in  the  extreme  forward  part  of  the  ship,  who 
serves  the  monster  for  eyes.  Jane  was  quite 
terrified  at  the  sound  of  the  guns. 

*'0,  Rollo!**  exclaimed  she,  '*I  wish  they 
would  not  fire  any  more  of  those  dreadful 
guns." 

*'I  don't  think  they  will  fire  any  more,'  said 
Rollo.  **In  fact,  I  am  sure  they  will  not,  for 
they  have  fired  two  now,  and  they  never  fire 
more  than  two." 

Rollo  was  mistaken  in  this  calculation, 
though  he  was  right  in  the  general  principle 
that  the  number  of  guns  usually  discharged 
by  a  steamer  going  to  sea,  as  its  parting 
salute,  is  two.  In  this  case,  however,  the 
steamer,  in  passing  on  down  the  river,  came 
opposite  to  a  place  in  Jersey  City,  where  a 
Steamer  of  another  line  was  lying  moored  to 
her  pier,  waiting  for  her  own  sailing  day. 
Now,  as  the  Pacfiic  passed  by  this  other  steam- 
er, the  men  on  board  of  the  latter,  having  pre- 


42  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


viously  made  everything  ready  for  the  cere- 
mony, fired  two  guns  as  a  salute  to  her,  by  way 
of  bidding  her  farewell  and  wishing  her  a  good 
voyage.  Of  course,  it  was  proper  to  respond 
to  the  compliment,  and  this  called  for  two  guns 
more.  This  made,  in  fact,  a  fourth  farewell, 
which  having  been  spoken,  the  firing  was  over. 
The  Pacific,  having  thus  taken  leave  of  the 
city,  and  also  of  her  sister  steamer  on  the  Jer- 
sey shore,  had  now  nothing  to  do  but  to  pro- 
ceed as  fast  as  possible  down  the  harbor  and 
out  to  sea.  ^ 

The  scenes  which  are'  presented  to  view  on 
every  hand  in  passing  down  New  York  Harbor 
and  Bay  are  very  magnificent  and  imposing. 
Ships,  steamers,  long  ferry  boats,  tugs,  sloops, 
sail  boats,  and  every  other  species  of  water 
craft,  from  the  little  skiff  that  bobs  up  and 
down  over  the  waves  made  by  the  steamboat 
swell  to  the  man-of-war  riding  proudly  at  an- 
chor in  the  stream,  are  seen  on  every  hand. 
The  shores,  too,  present  enchanting  pictures 
of  rich  and  romantic  beauty.  There  are  villas 
and  cottages,  and  smooth  grassy  lawns,  and 
vast  fortifications,  and  observatories,  and  light- 
houses, and  buoys,  and  a  great  many  other 
objects,  which  strongly  attract  the  attention 
and  excite  the  curiosity  of  the  voyager,  espe- 
cially if  he  has  been  previously  accustomed  only 
to  traveling  on  land. 

While  the  children  were  looking  at  these 
scenes  with  wonder  and  admiration,  as  the 
ship  passed  down  the  harbor,  a  young-looking 
man  who  appeared  to  belong  to  the  ship,  came 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  43 


to  them  and  told  them  that  if  they  wished  to 
remain  on  deck,  they  had  better  go  and  sit 
upon  the  settees.  So  saying,  he  pointed  to 
several  large  and  heavy-looking  settees,  which 
were  placed  near  the  middle  of  the  deck, 
.  around  what  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  skylight. 
These  settees  were  all  firmly  secured  to  their 
places  with  strong  cords,  by  means  of  which 
they  were  tied  by  the  legs  to  some  of  the  fix- 
tures of  the  skylights.  In  obedience  to  this 
suggestion,  the  children  went  and  took  their  \ 
places  upon  a  settee.  Jane  carried  the  cage, 
containing  Tiger,  which  she  had  kept  carefully 
with  her  thus  far,  and  put  it  down  upon  the 
settee  by  her  side.  The  man  who  had  directed 
the  children  to  this  place,  and  who  was  a  sort 
of  mate,  as  they  call  such  officers  at  sea,  looked 
at  the  kitten  with  an  expression  of  contempt 
upon  his  countenance,  but  said  nothing.  He 
took  the  camp  stools  which  the  children  had 
left,  and  carried  them  away. 

**I  am  sure  I  don't  know  what  we  are  to  do 
next,"  said  Jane,  mournfully,  after  sitting  for 
a  moment  in  silence. 

'*Nor  I,"  rejoined  Rollo,  **and  so  I  am  going 
to  follow  uncle  George's  rules.'* 

Mr.  George  had  given  Rollo  these  rules,  as  a 
sort  of  universal  direction  for  young  persons 
when  traveling  alone : 

1.  Do  as  you  see  other  people  do. 

2.  When  you  cannot  find  out  in  this  or  in 
any  other  way  what  to  do,  do  nothing. 

In  accordance  with  this  advice,  Rollo  con- 
cluded to  sit  still  upon  the  settee,  where  the 


44  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


ship's  officer  had  placed  him,  and  do  nothing. 
In  the  meantime,  however,  he  amused  himself 
in  watching  the  ships  and  steamers  which  he 
saw  sailing  to  and  fro  about  the  harbor,  and  in 
pointing  out  to  Jane  all  the  remarkable  objects 
which  he  observed  from  time  to  time  along  the 
shores. 

Among  other  things  which  attracted  his  at- 
tention, he  noticed  and  watched  the  movements 
of  a  man  who  stood  upon  the  top  of  one  of  the 
paddle  boxes  on  the  side  of  the  ship,  where  he 
walked  to  and  fro  very  busily,  holding  a  speak- 
ing trumpet  all  the  time  in  his  hand.  Every 
now  and  then,  he  would  call  out,  in  a  loud 
voice,  a  certain  word.  Sometimes  it  was  port, 
sometimes  it  was  starboard,  and  sometimes  it 
was  steady.  Rollo  observed  that  it  was  always 
one  or  the  other  of  those  three  words.  And 
what  was  still  more  curious,  Rollo  observed 
that,  whenever  the  man  on  the  paddle  box 
called  out  the  word,  the  officer  on  the  deck, 
who  kept  walking  about  there  all  the  time  to 
and  fro,  would  immediately  repeat  it  after  him, 
in  a  loud  but  in  a  somewhat  singular  tone. 
While  he  was  wondering  what  this  could  mean, 
a  gentleman,  who  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers, came  and  sat  down  on  the  settee  close 
by  his  side.  Rollo  had  a  great  mind  to  ask 
him  who  the  man  on  the  paddle  box  was. 

''Well,  my  boy,"  said  the  gentleman,  "you 
are  rather  young  to  go  to  sea.  How  do  you 
like  it?" 

"Pretty  well,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

**We  are  going  out  in  fine  style,"  said  th^ 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  45 


gentleman.  *'We  shall  soon  be  done  with  the 
pilot." 

**The  pilot?"  said  Rollo,  inquiringly. 

**Yes,"  said  the  gentleman.  **  There  he  is, 
on  the  paddle  box. '  * 

**Is  that  the  pilot?"  asked  Rollo.  **I  thought 
the  pilot  was  the  man  who  steered." 

*'No,"  replied  the  gentleman,  **he  is  the 
man  who  gives  directions  how  to  steer.  He 
does  not  steer  himself.  The  man  who  steers 
is  called  the  helmsman.    There  he  is." 

So  saying,  the  gentleman  pointed  toward  the 
stern  of  the  ship  where  there  was  a  sort  of  plat- 
form raised  a  little  above  the  deck,  with  a  row 
of  panes  of  glass,  like  a  long  narrow  window, 
in  front  of  it.  Through  this  window  Rollo 
could  see  the  head  of  a  man.  The  man  was 
standing  in  a  recess  which  contained  the  wheel 
by  means  of  which  the  ship  was  steered. 

*'The  pilot  keeps  a  lookout  on  the  paddle 
box,"  continued  the  gentleman,  ** watching  the 
changes  in  the  channel,  and  also  the  move- 
ments of  the  vessels  which  are  coming  and  go- 
ing. When  he  wishes  the  helm  to  be  put  to 
the  right,  he  calls  out  Starboard!  When  he 
wishes  it  to  be  put  to  the  left,  he  calls  out  Port! 
And  when  he  wishes  the  ship  to  go  straight 
forward  as  she  is,  he  calls  out  Steady!" 

Just  then  the  pilot,  from  his  lofty  lookout  on 
the  paddle  box,  called  out,  **Port!" 

The  officer  on  the  deck  repeated  the  com- 
mand, in  order  to  pass  it  along  to  the  helms- 
man, **Port!" 

The  helmsman  then  repeated  it  again,  by 


46 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


way  of  making  it  sure  to  the  officer  that  he 
had  heard  it  and  was  obeying  it,  *'Port!*' 

There  were  two  or  three  dashing-looking 
young  men  walking  together  up  and  down  the 
deck,  and  one  of  them,  on  hearing  these  com- 
mands, called  out,  not  very  loud,  but  still  in 
such  a  manner  as  that  all  around  him  could 
hear,  and  imitating  precisely  the  tones  in 
which  the  pilot's  order  had  been  given, 
'\Sherry!*' 

Whereupon  there  was  a  great  laugh  among 
all  the  passengers  around.  Even  the  stern  and 
morose-looking  countenance  of  the  officer  re- 
laxed into  a  momentary  smile. 

*'Now  look  forward  at  the  bows  of  the  ship, " 
said  the  gentleman,  *'and  you  will  see  her 
change  her  course  in  obedience  to  the  command 
of  the  pilot  to  port  the  helm/* 

Rollo  did  so,  and  observed  the  effect  with 
great  curiosity  and  pleasure. 

*'I  thought  the  captain  gave  orders  how  to 
steer  the  ship,*'  said  Rollo. 

**He  does,'*  said  the  gentleman,  *'after  we 
get  fairly  clear  of  the  land.  It  is  the  captain's 
business  to  navigate  the  ship  across  the  ocean, 
but  he  has  nothing  to  do  with  directing  her 
when  she  is  going  in  and  out  of  the  harbor.'* 
The  gentleman  then  went  on  to  explain  that  at 
the  entrances  of  all  rivers  and  harbors  there 
were  usually  rocks,  shoals,  sand  bars,  and 
other  obstructions,  some  of  which  were  contin- 
ually shifting  their  position  and  character, 
and  making  it  necessary  that  they  should  be 
studied  and  known  thoroughly  by  some  one 


a 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  A1 

who  is  all  the  time  upon  the  spot.  The  men 
who  do  his  are  called  pilots.  The  pilots  of 
each  port  form  a  company,  and  have  estab- 
lished rules  and  regulations  for  governing  all 
their  proceedings.  They  go  out  to  the  mouth 
of  the  harbor  in  small  vessels  called  pilot 
boats,  where  they  wait,  both  in  sunshine  and 
storm,  for  ships  to  come  in.  When  a  ship 
approaches  the  coast  and  sees  one  of  these  pilot 
boats,  it  makes  a  signal  for  a  pilot  to  come,  on  . 
board.  Tfhe  pilot  boat  then  sails  toward  the  . 
ship,  and  when  they  get  near  enough  they  let  r 
down  a  small  boat,  and  row  one  of  the  pilots 
on  board  the  vessel,  and  he  guides  the  ship  in. 
In  the  same  manner,  in  going  out  of  port,  the 
pilot  guides  the  ship  until  they  get  out  into 
deep  water,  and  then  a  pilot  boat  comes  up 
and  takes  him  off  the  ship.  The  ship  then 
proceeds  to  sea,  while  the  pilot  boat  continues 
to  sail  to  and  fro  about  the  mouth  of  the  har- 
bor, till  another  ship  appears. 

**And  will  this  pilot  get  into  a  pilot  boat  and 
go  back  to  New  York?**  asked  RoUo. 

**Yes, '*  replied  the  gentleman,  ''and  the 
passengers  can  send  letters  back  by  him,  if 
they  wish.    They  of  ten  do. " 

*'And  can  I?**  asked  RoUo. 

*' Yes,    replied  the  gentleman.   **  Write  yduT 
letter,  and  I  will  give  it  to  him. " 

Rollo  had  a  small  inkstand  in  his  pocket, 
and  also  a  pocketbook  with  note  papers  folded 
up,  and  envelopes  in  it.  This  was.  an  appar- 
atus that  he  always  carried  with  him  when  he 
traveled.    He  took  out  one  of  his  sheets  of 


48  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


note  paper,  and  wrote  upon  it  the  following 
letter : — 

Dear  Uncle  George: 

This  is  to  inform  you  that  we  have  found  a 
good  seat,  and  are  getting  along  very  well. 
Your  affectionate  nephew, 

R.  Holiday. 

Rollo  made  his  letter  shorter  than  he  other- 
wise would  have  done,  on  account  of  having 
been  informed  by  the  gentleman,  when  he  had 
just  written  the  first  line,  that  the  pilot  boat 
was  coming  in  sight.  So  he  finished  his  writ- 
ing, and  then  folded  his  note  and  put  it  in  its 
envelope.  He  sealed  the  envelope  with  a 
wafer,  which  he  took  out  of  a  compartment  of 
his  pocketbook.  He  then  addressed  it  to  his 
uncle  George  in  a  proper  manner,  and  it  was 
all  ready.  The  gentleman  then  took  it  and 
carried  it  to  the  pilot,  who  was  just  then  com- 
ing down  from  the  paddle  box  and  putting  on 
his  coat. 

By  this  time  the  pilot  boat  had  come  pretty 
near  to  the  ship,  and  was  lying  there  upon  the 
water  at  rest,  with  her  sails  flapping  in  the 
wind.  The  engine  of  the  ship  was  stopped. 
A  small  boat  was  then  seen  coming  from  the 
pilot  boat  toward  the  ship.  The  boat  was 
tossed  fearfully  by  the  waves  as  the  oarsmen 
rowed  it  along.  When  it  came  to  the  side  of 
the  ship  a  sailor  threw  a  rope  to  it,  and  it  was 
held  fast  by  means  of  the  rope  until  the  pilot 
got  on  board.  The  rope  was  then  cast  off,  and 
the  boat  moved  away.    The  engine  was  now 


5 


t3d 

> 
JO 

o 

> 

o 
o 

> 

w 
H 

> 

w 
1—1 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  49 


put  in  motion  again,  and  the  great  paddle 
wheels  of  the  ship  began  to  revolve  as  before. 
RoUo  watched  the  little  boat  as  it  went  bound- 
ing over  the  waves,  afraid  all  the  time  that  it 
would  be  upset,  in  which  case  his  letter  would 
be  lost.  At  length,  however,  he  had  the  satis- 
faction of  seeing  the  skifiE  safely  reach  the  pilot 
boat,  and  all  the  men  climb  up  safely  on 
board. 

''There!"  exclaimed  Rollo,  in  a  tone  of  great 
satisfaction,  "now  he  will  go  up  to  the  city 
safe,  and  I  am  very  glad  he  has  got  that  letter 
for  uncle  George." 

In  the  meantime  the  captain  mounted  the 
paddle  box  where  the  pilot  had  stood,  and, 
with  his  speaking  trumpet  in  his  hand,  began 
to  give  the  necessary  orders  for  the  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  voyage.  The  sails  were 
spread,  the  engines  were  put  into  full  opera- 
tion, the  helmsman  was  directed  what  course  to 
steer,  and  the  ship  pressed  gallantly  forward 
out  into  the  open  sea. 


4  Atlautic 


\ 


50  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GETTING  SETTLED. 

The  gentleman  v^ho  had  so  kindly  explained 
the  pilot  system  to  Rollo  did  not  return  to  the 
settee  after  having  given  the  pilot  the  letter, 
but  went  away,  and  for  a  few  minutes  Rollo 
and  Jane  were  left  alone.  They  observed, 
too,  that  a  great  many  of  the  passengers  had 
disappeared,  and  now  there  were  very  few 
about  the  deck.  Rollo  wondered  where  they 
had  gone.  He  soon  received  some  light  on 
the  subject,  by  overhearing  one  gentleman  say 
to  another,  as  they  passed  the  settee  on  their 
promenade, — 

'*Come,  Charley,  let  us  go  down  and  get 
some  lunch. " 

* '  They  are  going  to  lunch,  *  *  said  Rollo,  '  *  We 
will  go,  too.    I  am  beginning  to  be  hungry.*' 

**So  am  I  hungry,'*  said  Jane.    *'I  did  not 
think  of  it  before;  but  I  am,  and  I  have  no- 
doubt  that  Tiger  is  hungry,  too.'* 

So  Jane  took  up  her  cage,  and  then  she  and 
Rollo,  walking  along  together,  followed  the 
gentlemen  who  had  said  that  they  were  going 
down  to  lunch.  They  walked  forward  upon 
the  promenade  deck  till  they  came  to  the 
short  flight  of  stairs,  with  the  green  rope  bal- 
ustrade, which  led  down  to  the  deck  below. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  51 


These  stairs  were  so  steep  that  the  children 
were  obliged  to  proceed  with  great  caution  in 
descending  them,  in  order  to  get  down  in 
safety.  They,  however,  at  length  succeeded; 
and  then,  passing  along  where  they  saw  that 
the  gentlemen  went  who  preceded  them,  they 
entered  into  a  long  and  narrow  passage  way, 
with  doors  leading  to  state  rooms  on  either 
hand.  Following  this  passage  way,  they  came 
at  length  to  a  sort  of  entry  or  hall,  which  was 
lighted  by  a  skylight  above.  In  the  middle 
of  this  hall,  and  under  the  skylight,  was  a 
pretty  broad  staircase,  leading  down  to  some 
*  lower  portion  of  the  ship.  As  the  men  whom 
they  were  following  went  down  these  stairs, 
the  children  went  down,  too.  When  they  got 
down,  they  found  themselves  in  a  perfect  maze 
of  cabins,  state  rooms,  and  passage  ways,  the 
openings  into  which  were  infinitely  multiplied 
by  the  large  and  splendid  mirrors  with  which 
the  walls  were  everywhere  adorned. 

**Put  Tiger  down  there,*'  said  Rollo,  point- 
ing to  a  place  near  the  end  of  the  sofa,  **and 
we  will  bring  her  something  to  eat  when  we 
come  from  lunch.** 

Jane  was  very  anxious  to  take  the  kitten 
with  her;  but  she  knew  that,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  she  was  placed,  it  was 
proper  that  she  should  follow  implicitly  all  of 
Rollo*s  directions.  So  she  put  the  cage  down, 
and  then  she  and  Rollo  went  on  together 
through  a  door  where  the  gentlemen  who  had 
preceded  them  had  gone. 

They  found  themselves  in  another  long  and 


62  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


narrow  passage  way,  which  led  toward  the  for- 
ward part  of  the  ship.  The  passage  way  was 
so  narrow  that  they  could  not  walk  together. 
So  RoUo  went  first,  and  Jane  came  behind. 
The  vessel  was  rocking  gently  from  the  motion 
of  the  waves,  and  Jane  had  to  put  her  hands 
out  once  or  twice,  first  to  one  side  and  then  to 
the  other  of  the  passage  way,  in  order  to 
steady  herself  as  she  passed  along.  Presently 
they  came  to  a  place  where  they  had  to  go  up 
five  or  six  steps,  and  then  to  go  immediately 
down  again.  It  was  the  place  where  the  main 
shaft  passed  out  from  the  engine  to  the  paddle 
wheel.  After  getting  over  this  obstruction, 
they  went  on  a  little  farther,  and  then  came 
into  a  large  dining  saloon,  where  several  long 
tables  were  spread,  and  a  great  many  passen- 
gers were  seated,  eating  their  luncheons. 

There  were  a  number  of  waiters  in  different 
parts  of  the  room,  standing  behind  the  guests 
at  the  tables;  and  one  of  these  waiters,  as 
soon  as  he  saw  Rollo  and  Jane  come  in,  went 
to  them,  and  said  that  he  would  show  them 
where  to  sit.  So  they  followed  him,  and  he 
gave  them  a  good  seat  at  one  of  the  tables. 
As  soon  as  the  children  were  seated,  the'waiter 
said,  addressing  Rollo: 

**Will  you  have  soup?" 

*'Yes,''  said  Rollo. 

*'And  will  the  young  lady  take  soup,  too?" 
he  asked  again. 

*'Yes,"  said  Rollo;  **both  of  us." 

While  the  waiter  was  gone  to  get  the  soup, 
Rollo  and  Jane  had  an  opportunity  of  looking 


ROLL0  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


53 


around  the  room  and  observing  how  very 
different  it  was  in  its  fixtures  and  furniture 
from  a  dining-room  on  land.  Instead  of  win- 
dows, there  were  only  round  holes  in  the  sides 
of  the  ship,  about  a  foot  in  diameter.  For  a 
sash,  there  was  only  one  round  and  exceed- 
ingly thick  and  strong  pane  of  glass,  set  in  an 
iron  frame,  and  opening  inward,  on  massive 
hinges.  On  the  side  of  this  frame,  opposite 
the  hinges,  was  a  strong  clamp  and  screw,  by 
means  of  which  the  frame  could  be  screwed 
up  very  tight,  in  order  to  exclude  the  water 
in  case  of  heavy  seas.  The  tables  were  fitted 
with  a  ledge  all  around  the  outside,  to  keep 
the  dishes  from  sliding  off.  Above  each  table, 
and  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  was  a  long 
shelf  of  beautiful  wood,  with  racks  and  sockets 
in  it  of  every  kind,  for  containing  wine- 
glasses, tumblers,  decanters,  and  such  other 
things  as  would  be  wanted  from  time  to  time 
upon  the  table.  Every  one  of  these  glasses 
was  in  a  place  upon  the  shelf  expressly  fitted 
to  receive  and  retain  it ;  so  that  it  might  be 
held  securely,  and  not  allowed  to  fall,  how- 
ever great  might  be  the  motion  of  the  ship. 

There  were  no  chairs  at  the  tables.  The 
seats  consisted  of  handsomely  cushioned  set- 
tees, with  substantial  backs  to  them.  It  was 
upon  one  of  these  settees,  and  near  the  end  of 
it,  that  Rollo  and  Jane  were  seated. 

When  the  soup  was  brought,  the  children 
ate  it  with  great  satisfaction.  They  found  it 
excellent;  and,  besides  that,  they  had  excel- 
lent appetites.     After  the  soup,  the  waiter 


54  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


brought  them  some  roasted  potatoes  and  but- 
ter, and  also  some  slices  of  cold  roast  beef. 
When  the  roast  beef  came,  Jane  exclaimed  to 
Rollo : 

**Ah!  I  am  very  glad  to  see  that.  It  is  just 
the  thing  for  Tiger.  *' 

Then  she  turned  round  and  said  to  the 
waiter: 

**Can  I  take  a  piece  of  this  meat  to  give  to 
my  kitten?*' 

'*Your  kitten?*'  said  the  waiter.  •*Have  you 
got  a  kitten  on  board?" 

**Yes/'  said  Jane. 

** Where  is  she?*'  asked  the  waiter. 

•*I  left  her  in  the  cabin,"  said  Jane,  **by  the 
end  of  a  sofa.    She  is  in  her  cage. " 

The  waiter  smiled  to  hear  this  statement. 
Jane  had  been,  in  fact,  a  little  afraid  to  ask  for 
meat  for  her  kitten,  supposing  it  possible  that 
the  waiter  might  think  that  she  ought  not  to 
have  brought  a  kitten  on  board.  But  the  truth 
was,  the  waiter  was  very  glad  to  hear  of  it. 
He  was  glad  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first 
place,  the  monotony  and  dullness  of  sea  life 
are  so  great,  that  those  who  live  in  ships  are 
usually  glad  to  have  anything  occur  that  is 
extraordinary  or  novel.  Then,  besides,  he 
knew  that  it  was  customary  with  passengers, 
when  they  gave  the  waiters  any  unusual 
trouble,  to  compensate  them  for  it  fully  when 
they  reached  the  end  of  the  voyage;  and  he 
presumed,  therefore,  that  if  he  had  a  kitten 
to  take  care  of,  as  well  as  the  children  them- 
selves, their  father,  whom  he  had  no  doubt 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  55 

was  on  board,  would  remember  it  in  his  fee. 
So,  when  Jane  told  him  where  the  kitten  was, 
he  said  he  would  go  and  bring  her  out  into  the 
dining  saloon,  and  give  her  some  of  the 
meat  there,  as  soon  as  the  passengers  had 
finished  their  luncheon,  so  that  he  could  be 
spared  from  the  table. 

Accordingly,  when  the  proper  time  arrived, 
the  waiter  went  aft,  to  the  cabin,  and  very 
soon  returned,  bringing  the  cage  with  him. 

He  seemed  quite  pleased  with  his  charge; 
and  several  of  the  passengers,  who  met  him 
as  they  were  going  out  of  the  saloon,  stopped 
a  moment  to  see  what  he  had  got  in  the  cage, 
and  Jane  was  much  gratified  at  hearing  one  of 
them  say: 

**What  a  pretty  kitten!  Whose  is  it,  wait- 
er?'* 

The  waiter  put  the  cage  down  upon  a  side 
table,  and  then  carried  a  plate  of  meat  to  the 
place,  and  put  it  in  the  cage.  Jane  and  Rollo 
went  to  see.  While  the  kitten  was  eating  her 
meat,  the  waiter  said  that  he  would  go  and  get 
some  milk  for  her.  He  accordingly  went  away 
again ;  but  he  soon  returned,  bringing  a  little 
milk  with  him  in  a  saucer.  The  kitten,  having 
by  this  time  finished  eating  her  meat,  set  her- 
self eagerly  at  the  work  of  lapping  up  the 
milk,  which  she  did  with  an  air  of  great  satis- 
faction. 

** There!"  said  the  waiter,  ** bring  her  out 
here  whenever  she  is  hungry,  and  I  will  always 
have  something  for  her.  When  you  come  at 
ineal  times^  you  will  see  me  at  the  table.  If 


56  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


you  come  at  any  other  time,  and  you  don*t  see 
me,  ask  for  Alfred.    My  name  is  Alfred.  *' 

Jane  and  Rollo  both  said  to  Alfred  that  they 
were  very  much  obliged  to  him,  and  then, 
observing  that  nearly  all  the  passengers  had 
left  the  dining  saloon  and  had  returned  to  the 
cabin,  they  determined  to  go,  too.  So  they 
went  back  through  the  same  passageway  by 
which  they  had  come. 

There  were  two  principal  cabins  in  the  ship, 
the  ladies'  cabin  and  the  gentlemen's  cabin. 
The  ladies'  cabin  was  nearest  to  the  dining 
saloon,  the  gentlemen's  cabin  being  beyond. 
A  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  turned  into 
the  ladies'  cabin,  and  so  Rollo  and  Jane  fol- 
lowed them.  They  found  themselves,  when 
they  had  entered,  in  quite  a  considerable  apart- 
ment, with  sofas  and  mirrors  all  around  the 
sides  of  it,  and  a  great  deal  of  rich  carving  in 
the  panels  and  ceiling.  Several  splendid 
lamps,  too,  were  suspended  in  different  places, 
so  hung  that  they  could  move  freely  in  every 
direction,  when  the  ship  was  rolling  from 
side  to  side  in  rough  seas.  Rollo  and  Jane 
took  their  seats  upon  one  of  the  sofas. 

**Well,  Rollo,"  said  Jane,  **I  don't  know 
what  we  are  going  to  do  next." 

"Nor  I,"  said  Rollo;  *'but  we  can  sit  here  a 
little  while,  and  perhaps  somebody  will  come 
and  speak  to  us.  It  must  be  right  for  us  to  sit 
here,  for  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  are  sit- 
ting in  this  cabin." 

Jane  looked  about  the  cabin  on  the  different 
sofas  to  see  if  there  were  any  persons  there 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  57 


that  she  had  ever  seen  before.  But  there 
were  none. 

Among  the  persons  in  the  cabin,  there  were 
two  who  particularly  attracted  Jane's  attention. 
They  were  young  ladies  of,  perhaps,  eighteen 
or  twenty  years  of  age,  but  they  were  remark- 
ably different  from  each  other  in  appearance. 
One  was  very  beautiful,  indeed.  Her  hair  was 
elegantly  arranged  in  curls  upon  her  neck,  and 
she  was  dressed  quite  fashionably.  Her  coun- 
tenance, too,  beamed  with  an  expression  of 
animation  and  happiness. 

The  other  young  lady,  who  sat  upon  the 
other  end  of  the  same  ^ofa,  was  very  plain  in 
her  appearance,  and  was  plainly  dressed.  Her 
countenance,  too,  had  a  sober  and  thoughtful 
expression  which  was  almost  stern,  and  made 
Jane  feel  quite  disposed  to  be  afraid  of  her. 
The  beautiful  girl  she  liked  very  much. 

While  the  children  were  sitting  thus  upon 
the  sofa,  waiting  to  see  what  was  next  going 
to  happen  to  them,  several  persons  passed 
along  that  way,  taking  a  greater  or  less  degree 
of  notice  of  them  as  they  passed.  Some 
merely  stared  at  them,  as  if  wondering  how 
they  came  there,  and  what  they  were  doing. 
One  lady  looked  kindly  at  them,  but  did  not 
speak.  Another  lady,  apparently  about  forty 
years  of  age,  walked  by  them  with  a  haughty 
air,  talking  all  the  time  with  a  gentleman  who 
was  with  her.  Jane  heard  her  say  to  the  gen- 
tleman, as  soon  as  she  had  passed  them : 

**What  a  quantity  of  children  we  have  on 


58  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


board  this  ship!  I  hate  children  on  board 
ship,  they  are  so  noisy  and  troublesome.** 

Jane  did  not  say  anything  in  reply  to  this, 
but  she  thought  that  she  and  Rollo,  at  least, 
did  not  deserve  such  censures,  for  they  had 
certainly  not  been  noisy  or  troublesome. 

Presently  Jane  saw  the  beautiful  girl,  who 
has  been  already  spoken  of,  rise  and  come 
toward  them.  She  was  very  glad  to  see  this, 
for  now,  thought  she,  we  have  a  friend  com- 
ing. The  young  lady  came  walking  along 
carelessly  toward  them,  and  when  she  came 
near  she  looked  at  them  a  moment,  and  then 
said,  in  a  pert  and  forward  manner: 

**What  are  you  sitting  here  for,  children,  so 
long,  all  alone?    Where  is  your  father?*' 

**My  father  is  in  Liverpool,  I  suppose,"  said 
Rollo. 

*'Well,  your  mother,  then,*'  said  the  young 
lady,  '*or  whoever  has  the  care  of  you?** 

**My  mother  is  in  Liverpool,  too,"  said 
Rollo,  *'and  there  is  nobody  who  has  the  care 
of  us  on  board  this  ship.  * ' 

**Why,  you  are  not  going  to  cross  the  Atlan- 
tic all  by  yourselves,  are  you?*'  said  the  young 
lady,  in  a  tone  of  great  astonishment. 

**Yes,"  said  Rollo,  unless  we  find  some- 
body to  be  kind  enough  to  help  us.** 

*'La!  how  queer!**  said  the  young  lady.  **I 
am  sure  I*m  glad  enough  that  I  am  not  in 
your  places." 

So  saying,  the  beautiful  young  lady  walked 
on. 

All  the  beauty,  however,  which  she  had  b§- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC,  5^ 


fore  possessed  in  Jane's  eyes,  was  entirely  dis- 
sipated by  this  heartless  behavior.  Both  Jane 
and  RoUo,  for  all  the  rest  of  the  voyage, 
thought  her  one  of  the  ugliest  girls  they  had 
ever  seen. 

It  was  some  minutes  after  this  before  any 
other  person  approached  the  children.  Jane 
observed,  however,  that  the  other  young  lady 
—the  one  who  had  appeared  to  her  so  plain — 
looked  frequently  toward  her  and  Rollo,  with 
an  expression  of  interest  and  kindness  upon 
her  countenance.  At  length  she  rose  from  her 
seat,  and  came  across  the  cabin,  and  sat  down 
by  Jane's  side. 

'*May  I  come  and  sit  by  you?'*  said  she  to 
Jane.    **You  seem  to  be  all  alone." 

*'Yes, "  said  Jane;  **we  don't  know  anybody 
in  this  ship. ' ' 

**Not  anybody?"  said  the  young  lady. 
**Then  you  may  know  me.  My  name  is  Maria. 
But  your  father  and  mother  are  on  board  the 
ship,  are  they  not?" 

'*No,"  said  Rollo.  **  There  is  not  anybody 
on  board  this  ship  that  belongs  to  us. " 

Maria  seemed  very  much  astonished  at  hear- 
ing this,  and  she  asked  the  children  how  it  hap- 
pened that  they  were  sent  across  the  Atlantic 
alone.  Upon  which  Rollo,  in  a  very  clear  and 
lucid  manner,  explained  all  the  circumstances 
of  the  case  to  her.  He  told  her  about  his 
father  being  sick  in  England,  and  about  his 
having  sent  for  him  and  Jane  to  go  to  England 
and  meet  him  there.  He  also  explained  what 
Mr.  George's  plan  had  been  for  providing  them 


60  ROLLO  GN  THE  ATLANTIC 


with  a  protector  on  the  voyage,  and  how  it 
had  been  defeated  by  the  accident  of  the  loss 
of  the  trunk.  He  also  told  her  how  nari  >wly 
they  had  escaped  having  the  trunk  itseli  left 
behind.  He  ended  by  saying  that  there  were 
several  of  his  father's  friends  on  board,  only 
he  did  not  know  of  any  way  by  which  he  could 
find  out  who  they  were. 

*' Never  mind  that,'*  said  Maria.  **I  will 
take  care  of  you.  You  need  not  be  at  all 
afraid ;  you  will  get  along  very  well.  Have 
you  got  any  stateroom?" 

**No,"  said  Rollo. 

**Well,  I  will  go  and  find  the  chambermaid, 
and  she  will  get  you  one.  Then  we  will  have 
your  trunk  sent  to  it,  and  you  will  feel  quite 
at  home  there." 

So  Maria  went  away,  and  presently  returned 
with  one  of  the  chambermaids. 

When  the  chambermaid  learned  that  there 
were  two  children  on  board  without  any  one 
to  take  care  of  them,  she  was  very  much  inter- 
ested in  their  case.  Rollo  heard  her  say  to 
Maria,  as  they  came  up  together  toward  the 
sofa  where  the  children  were  sitting: 

**0,  yes,  I  will  find  them  a  stateroom,  if 
they  have  not  got  one  already.  Children," 
she  added,  when  she  came  near,  **are  you  sure 
you  have  not  got  any  stateroom?" 

**Yes,"  said  Rollo.  **I  did  not  know  where 
the  captain's  office  was." 

**0,  you  don't  go  to  the  captain's  office," 
said  the  chambermaid.  *'They  pay  for  the  pas- 
sage and  get  the  tickets  in  Wall  Street." 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  61 


** Perhaps  this  is  it,  then,"  said  Rollo.  And 
so  saying,  he  took  out  his  wallet,  and  there, 
from  one  of  the  inner  compartments,  where 
his  uncle  George  had  placed  it  away  very  care- 
fully, he  produced  a  paper.  The  chambermaid 
opened  it,  saying,  *'Yes,  this  is  all  right. 
Berths  sixteen  and  eighteen.  Come  with  me, 
and  ril  show  you  where  they  are." 

So  the  two  children,  accompanied  by  Maria, 
followed  the  chambermaid,  who  led  the  way 
across  the  cabin,  and  there,  entering  a  passage- 
way, she  opened  a  door,  by  means  of  a  beauti- 
ful porcelain  knob  which  was  upon  it.  They 
all  went  in.  They  found  themselves  in  a  small 
room,  no  bigger  than  a  large  closet,  but  they 
saw  at  a  glance  that  it  was  very  beautifully 
finished  and  furnished.  On  the  front  side  was 
a  round  window  like  those  they  had  seen  in 
the  dining  saloon.  Under  this  window  was  a 
couch,  with  a  pillow  at  the  head  of  it.  Qn  the 
back  side  were  two  berths,  one  above  the  other, 
with  very  pretty  curtains  before  them. 

** There!"  said  the  chambermaid,  ''sixteen. 
That  lower  berth  is  yours." 

"And  whose  is  the  upper  berth?"  asked 
Maria. 

"That  is  not  taken,  I  think,"  said  the  cham- 
bermaid. 

"Then  !  will  take  it,"  said  Maria.  "I  will 
come  into  this  stateroom,  and  then  I  can  look 
after  Jennie  all  the  time.  But  where  is  RoUo's 
berth?" 

"In  the  next  stateroom,"  said  the  chamber- 
maid* 


62  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


So  saying,  she  opened  a  door  in  the  end  o£ 
the  room,  and  found  another  stateroom  com- 
municating with  the  first,  where  she  pointed 
out  Rollo's  berth.  There  was  another  entrance 
to  RoUo's  stateroom  from  the  passage  leading 
into  the  cabin,  on  the  farther  side  of  it. 

** There,'*  said  the  chambermaid,  **now  you 
can  settle  yourselves  here  as  soon  as  you 
please.  Nobody  can  come  in  here  to  trouble 
you,  for  you  have  these  little  rooms  all  to  your- 
selves, ril  go  and  find  a  porter,  and  get  him 
to  look  up  your  trunk  and  send  it  in.** 

So  Rollo  went  into  his  stateroom,  and  Jane 
sat  down  upon  the  couch  in  hers,  by  the  side 
of  Maria,  looking  very  much  pleased.  She 
opened  the  door  of  the  cage,  and  let  the  kitten 
out.  The  kitten  walked  all  about  the  room, 
examining  everything  with  great  attention 
She  jumped  up  upon  the  marble  washstand, 
and  from  that  she  contrived  to  get  into  the 
round  window,  where  she  stood  for  a  few  min- 
utes looking  out  very  attentively  over  the  wide 
sea.  Not  knowing,  however,  what  to  make  of 
so  extraordinary  a  prospect,  she  presently 
jumped  down  again,  and,  selecting  a  smooth 
place  at  the  foot  of  the  couch,  she  curled  her- 
self up  into  a  ring  upon  the  soft  covering  of  it, 
and  went  to  sleep. 


♦ 

ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  68 


CHAPTER  V. 

ON  DECK. 

As  soon  as  Rollo  and  Jane  found  themselves 
thus  established  in  their  staterooms,  they  be- 
gan to  examine  the  furniture  and  fixtures 
around  them  with  great  curiosity.  They  were 
particularly  interested  in  observing  the  pre- 
cautions which  had  been  taken  in  securing 
everything  which  the  staterooms  contained, 
from  the  danger  of  being  thrown  about  by  the 
motion  of  the  ship.  The  wash  basin  was  made 
of  marble,  and  was  firmly  set  in  its  place,  so  as 
to  be  absolutely  immovable.  There  was  a  hole 
in  the  bottom  of  it,  with  a  plug  in  it,  so  that,  by 
drawing  out  the  plug,  the  water  could  be  let 
off  into  a  pipe  which  conveyed  it  away.  There 
was  a  small  chain  attached  to  this  plug,  by 
means  of  which  it  could  be  drawn  up  when 
any  one  wished  to  let  the  water  off.  The 
pitcher  was  made  broad  and  flat  at  the  bottom, 
and  very  heavy,  so  that  it  could  not  be  easily 
upset;  and  then  there  was  a  socket  for  it  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  washstand,  which  confined  it 
effectually,  and  prevented  its  sliding  about 
when  the  ship  was  rolling  in  a  heavy  sea. 

The  tumbler  was  secured  in  a  more  curious 
manner  still.  It  was  placed  in  a  brass  ring, 
which  projected  from  the  wall  in  a  comer  over 


64  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


the  washstand,  and  which  was  made  just  large 
enough  to  receive  it.  The  soap  dish  and  the 
brush  tray  were  also  placed  in  sockets  cut  to 
receive  them  in  the  marble  slab,  which  formed 
the  upper  part  of  the  washstand.  The  looking- 
glass  was  round,  and  was  screwed  to  the  wall 
by  means  of  a  stem  and  a  ball  or  socket  joint, 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  could  be  set  in  any 
position  required,  according  to  the  height  of 
the  observer,  and  yet  it  could  not  by  any  pos- 
sibility fall  from  its  place.  There  were  very 
few  pegs  or  pins  for  hanging  clothes  upon,  be- 
cause, when  clothes  are  thus  hung,  they  are 
found  to  swing  back  and  forth  whenever  the 
ship  is  rolling  in  a  heavy  sea,  in  a  manner  that 
is  very  tiresome  and  disagreeable  for  sick  pas- 
sengers to  see.  Nor  were  there  many  sheb'^es 
about  the  stateroom ;  for  if  there  had  been,  the 
passengers  would  be  likely  to  put  various  arti- 
cles upon  them  when  the  sea  was  smooth;  and 
then,  when  the  ship  came  to  pitch  and  roll  in 
gales  of  wind,  the  things  would  all  slide  off 
upon  the  floor.  So  instead  of  shelves  there 
were  pockets  made  of  canvas  or  duck,  several 
together,  one  above  another.  These  pockets 
formed  very  convenient  receptacles  for  such 
loose  articles  as  the  passengers  might  have  in 
their  staterooms,  and  were,  of  course,  per- 
fectly secure. 

There  were  two  shelves,  it  is  true,  in  Jen- 
nie's stateroom — one  over  each  of  the  two 
washstands — but  they  were  protected  by  a 
ledge  about  the  edges  of  them,  which  would 


i 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC, 


65 


effectually  prevent  such  things  as  might  be 
placed  upon  them  from  sliding  off. 

By  the  time  that  Rollo  and  Jane  had  exam- 
ined these  things,  a  porter  came  into  the  state- 
room, bringing  their  trunk  upon  his  shoulder. 
Maria  told  the  children  that  they  had  better 
open  the  trunk  and  take  out  all  that  they  would 
be  likely  to  require  while  on  board,  and  then 
stow  the  trunk  itself  away  under  the  lower 
berth,  in  one  of  the  staterooms. 

''Because,'*  said  she,  *'as  soon  as  we  get  out 
upon  the  heavy  seas  we  shall  all  be  sick,  and 
then  we  shall  not  wish  to  move  to  do  the  least 
thing.*' 

"When  will  that  be?"  asked  Jane. 

**I  don't  know,"  replied  Maria.  ''Sometimes 
we  have  it  smooth  for  a  good  many  days,  and 
then  there  comes  a  head  wind  and  makes  it 
rough,  and  all  the  passengers  get  sick  and  very 
wretched." 

"I  don't  think  that  I  shall  be  sick,"  said 
Rollo. 

"You  can't  tell,"  said  Maria.  "Nobody  can 
tell  anything  about  it  beforehand." 

In  obedience  to  Maria's  directions,  Rollo 
opened  the  trunk  and  took  out  from  it  all  the 
clothing,  both  for  day  and  night,  which  he 
thought  that  he  and  Jennie  would  require  dur- 
ing the  voyage.  The  night  dresses  he  put  un- 
der the  pillows  in  the  berths.  The  cloaks,  and 
coats,  and  shawls  which  might  be  required  on 
deck  in  the  day  he  placed  on  the  couches. 
Those  which  belonged  to  him  he  put  in  his 
stateroom,  and  those  that  belonged  to  Jennie 

5  Atlantio 


66 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


in  hers.  While  engaged  in  these  operations, 
he  pulled  up  from  one  of  the  lower  corners  of 
his  trunk  a  small  leather  purse  or  bag  full  of 
money. 

*'What  shall  I  do  with  this?"  he  asked,  hold- 
ing  it  up  to  Maria. 

*'What  is  it?*'  asked  Maria. 
Money,"  said  Rollo. 

**How  much  is  there?"  said  Maria. 

'*I  don't  know,"  replied  Rollo.  •'Uncle 
George  put  it  in  here.  He  said  I  ought  to 
have  some  money  to  carry  with  me,  in  case  of 
accidents.    I  don't  suppose  it  is  much." 

**  You  had  better  count  it,  then,"  said  Maria, 
**so  as  to  ascertain  how  much  it  is.  You  and 
Jane  may  count  it  together." 

So  Rollo  and  Jane  sat  down  upon  the  couch, 
and  Rollo  poured  out  the  money  into  Jennie's 
lap.  It  was  all  gold.  Maria  said  that  the  coins 
were  sovereigns  and  half  sovereigns.  The 
large  ones  were  sovereigns,  and  the  small  ones 
were  half  sovereigns.  Rollo  proposed  that  he 
should  count  the  sovereigns,  and  that  Jennie 
might  count  the  half  sovereigns.  It  proved, 
when  the  counting  was  completed,  that  there 
were  thirty  sovereigns  and  twenty  half  sover- 
eigns. 

'*That  makes  forty  sovereigns  in  all,"  said 
Maria.    **That  is  a  great  deal  of  money.  '* 

•*How  much  is  it?"  asked  Rollo. 

**Why,  in  American  money,"  said  Maria,  ''it 
makes  about  two  hundred  dollars." 

**Two  hundred  dollars!"  repeated  Rollo, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  67 


with  astonishment.  **What  could  uncle  George 
think  I  could  want  of  all  this  money?" 

**It  was  in  case  of  accidents,"  said  Maria. 
•*For  example,  suppose  this  ship  should  be 
cast  away  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  all 
the  passengers  and  baggage  be  saved,  what 
could  you  do  there  without  any  money?" 

**Why,  I  should  think  that  somebody  there 
would  take  care  of  us,"  replied  Rollo. 

**Yes,"  said  Maria,  '*I  suppose  they  would; 
but  it  is  a  great  deal  better  to  have  money  of 
your  own.  Besides,  suppose  that  when  you 
get  to  Liverpool,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
your  father  should  not  be  there.  Then,  hav- 
ing plenty  of  money,  you  could  go  to  a  hotel 
and  stay  there  till  your  father  comes.  Or  you 
could  ask  some  one  of  the  passengers  who  is 
going  to  London  to  let  you  go  with  him,  and 
you  could  tell  him  that  you  had  plenty  of 
money  to  pay  the  expenses. ' ' 

•*Yes,"  said  Rollo,  ^'though  I  don't  think 
there  is  any  doubt  that  my  father  will  be  in 
Liverpool  when  we  arrive." 

**I  hope  he  will  be,  I  am  sure,"  said  Maria. 
**But  now,  put  up  the  money  again  in  the  purse, 
tie  it  up  securely,  and  replace  it  in  the  trunk. 
Then  you  must  keep  the  trunk  locked  all  the 
time  and  keep  the  key  in  your  pocket." 

Rollo  felt  quite  proud  of  being  intrusted 
with  so  much  money ;  so  he  replaced  the  bag  in 
the  trunk  with  great  care,  and  locked  it  safely. 

••Now,"  said  Maria,  '^this  is  your  home 
while  you  are  on  board  this  ship.  When  you 
choose,  you  can  come  here  and  be  alone;  and 


68  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


you  can  lie  down  and  rest  here  whenever  you 
are  tired.  At  other  times  you  can  ramble 
about  the  ship,  in  all  proper  places.  ** 

**How  shall  I  know  what  the  proper  places 
arer  ' asked  Rollo. 

**Why,  you  will  see  where  the  other  passen- 
gers go,"  replied  Maria; '*and  wherever  you 
see  them  go,  you  can  go  yourself.  That  is  as 
good  a  rule  as  you  can  have. 

**Well,*' said  RoUo,  **and  now,  Jane,  let  us 
go  up  on  deck  and  see  what  we  can  see." 

Jane  was  pleased  with  this  proposal;  so  she 
followed  Rollo  to  the  deck.  Maria  said  that 
she  would  come  by-and-by,  but  for  the  present 
she  wished  to  go  and  see  her  brother.  She 
said  that  she  had  a  brother  on  board  who  was 
quite  out  of  health.  He  was  going  to  Europe 
in  hopes  tnat  the  voyage  would  restore  him. 
At  present,  however,  he  was  very  unwell,  and 
was  confined  to  his  berth,  and  she  must  go  and 
see  him. 

So  Rollo  and  Jane  went  to  see  if  they  could 
find  their  way  up  on  deck  alone.  Rollo  went 
before,  and  Jane  followed.  They  ascended 
the  steep  stairs  where  they  had  gone  up  at 
first,  and  then  walked  aft  upon  the  deck  until 
they  came  to  the  settees  where  they  had  been 
sitting  before  the  luncheon.  They  sat  down 
upon  one  of  these  settees,  where  they  had  a 
fine  view,  not  only  of  the  wide  expanse  of  sea 
on  every  hand,  but  also  of  the  whole  extent  of 
the  decks  of  the  ship.  They  remained  here 
nearly  two  hours,  ooserving  what  was  going 
on  around  them,  and  they  saw  a  great  many 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  69 

things  that  interested  them  very  much,  indeed. 
The  first  thing  that  attracted  their  attention 
was  the  sound  of  a  bell,  which  struck  four 
strokes  very  distinctly,  and  in  a  very  peculiar 
manner,  near  where  the  helmsmarf  stood  in 
steering  the  ship.  This  bell  has  already  been 
mentioned.  It  hung  directly  before  the  helms- 
man's v/indow,  and  it  had  a  short  rope  attached 
to  the  clapper  of  it.  The  helsman,  or  the  man 
at  the  wheel,  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  from 
the  fact  that  he  steers  the  ship  by  means  of  a 
wheel,  with  handles  all  around  the  periphery 
of  it,  had  opened  his  widow  just  after  Rollo 
and  Jane  had  taken  their  seats,  and  had  pulled 
this  clapper  so  as  to  strike  four  strokes  upon 
the  bell,  the  strokes  being  in  pairs,  thus: 

Ding — ding !    Ding — ding ! 

In  a  minute  afterward,  Rollo  and  Jane  heard 
the  sound  repeated  in  precisely  the  same  man- 
ner from  another  bell,  that  seemed  to  be  far  in 
the  forward  part  of  the  ship. 

Ding — ding !    Ding — ding ! 

*'I  wonder  what  that  means?"  said  Rollo. 

**I  expect  it  means  that  it  is  four  o'clock, " 
said  Jane. 

^  **I  should  not  think  it  could  be  so  late  as 
four  o'clock,"  said  Rollo. 

"I  have  a  great  mind  to  go  and  ask  the 
helmsman  what  it  means,"  he  added,  after  a 
moment's  pause. 

**No,"  said  Jane,  **you  must  not  go." 

It  is  difficult  to  say  precisely  why  Jane  did 
not  wish  to  have  Rollo  go  and  ask  the  helms- 
man about  the  bell,  but  she  had  an  instinctive 


70  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


feeling  that  it  was  better  not  to  do  it.  So  Rollo 
sat  still.  His  attention  was  very  soon  turned 
away  from  the  bell  by  Jane's  calling  out  to 
him  to  see  some  sailors  go  up  the  rigging. 
There  were  regular  shrouds,  as  they  are  called, 
that  is,  ladders  formed  of  ropes,  which  led  up 
on  each  side  of  the  masts  part  way  to  where 
the  sailors  seemed  to  wish  to  go.  Above  the 
top  of  the  shrouds  there  were  only  single  ropes 
and  Rollo  wondered  what  the  sailors  would  do 
when  they  came  to  these.  They  found  no 
difficulty,  however,  for  when  they  reached  the 
top  of  the  shrouds  they  continued  to  mount  by 
the  ropes  with  very  little  apparent  effort 
They  would  take  hold  of  two  of  the  ropes  that 
were  a  little  distance  apart  with  their  hands, 
and  then,  curling  their  legs  round  them  in  a 
peculiar  manner  below,  they  would  mount  up 
very  easily.  They  thus  reached  the  yard,  as  it 
is  called,  which  is  a  long,  round  beam,  extend- 
ing along  the  upper  edge  of  the  sail,  and, 
spreading  themselves  out  upon  it  in  a  row, 
they  proceeded  to  do  the  work  required  upon 
the  sail,  leaning  over  upon  the  yard  above, 
and  standing  upon  a  rope,  which  was  stretched 
for  the  purpose  along  the  whole  length  of  it 
below. 

**I  wonder  if  I  could  climb  up  there,"  said 
Rollo.  **Do  you  suppose  they  would  let  me 
try?'' 

**No,  indeed!"  said  Jane,  very  earnestly; 
'•you  must  not  try,  by  any  means." 
** I  believe  that  I  could  climb  up  there,"  said 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  71 


Rollo;  **that  is,  if  the  vessel  would  stop  rock- 
ing to  and  fro,  and  hold  still. " 

Presently,  however,  a  boy,  who  appeared  to 
be  about  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  of  age, 
and  who  was  upon  another  mast,  accomplished 
a  feat  which  even  Rollo  himself  admitted  that 
he  should  not  dare  to  undertake.  It  seemed 
that  he  had  some  operation  to  perform  upon  a 
part  of  the  rigging  down  some  fifteen  feet  from 
where  he  was ;  so,  with  a  rope  hung  over  his 
shoulder,  he  came  down  hand  over  hand,  by  a 
single  rope  or  cable  called  a  stay,  until  he 
reached  the  place  where  the  work  was  to  be 
performed.  Here  he  stopped,  and,  clinging  to 
the  rope  that  he  had  come  down  upon  with  his 
legs  and  one  hand,  he  contrived  with  the  other 
hand  to  fasten  one  end  of  the  short  rope  which 
he  had  brought  with  him  to  the  stay,  and  then, 
carrying  the  other  end  across,  he  fastened  it  to 
another  cable  which  was  near.  He  then  seated 
himself  upon  this  cross  rope  as  upon  a  seat, 
and  clinging  to  his  place  by  his  legs,  he  had 
his  hands  free  for  his  work.  When  he  had  fin- 
ished his  work  he  untied  the  cross  rope,  and 
then  went  up  the  cable  hand  over  hand  as  he 
had  come  down. 

'*I  am  sure  I  could  not  do  that,"  said  Rollo. 
**And  I  should  not  think  that  anybody  but  a 
monkey  could  do  it,  or  a  spider. " 

In  fact,  the  lines  of  rigging,  as  seen  from 
the  place  where  Rollo  and  Jane  were  seated, 
looked  so  fine,  and  the  men  appeared  so  small, 
that  the  whole  spectacle  naturally  reminded 
one  of  a  gigantic  spider's  web,  with  blagk 


72  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


spiders  of  curious  forms  ascending  and  descend- 
ing upon  them,  so  easily  and  adroitly  did  the 
men  pass  to  and  fro  and  up  and  down,  attach- 
ing new  lines  to  new  points,  and  then  running 
off  with  them,  as  a  spider  would  do  with  her 
thread,  wherever  they  were  required.  But 
after  all,  in  respect  to  the  power  of  running 
about  among  lines  and  rigging,  the  spider  is 
superior  to  man.  She  can  not  only  run  up  and 
down  far  more  easily  and  readily  wherever  she 
wishes  to  go,  but  she  can  make  new  attach- 
ments with  a  touch,  and  make  them  strong 
enough  to  bear  her  own  weight  and  all  other 
strains  that  come  upon  them ;  while  the  sailor, 
as  Rollo  and  Jane  observed  on  this  occasion, 
was  obliged  in  his  fastenings  to  wind  his  ropes 
round  and  round,  and  tie  them  into  compli- 
cated knots,  and  then  secure  the  ends  with 
*'spun  yarn. 

While  Rollo  and  Jane  were  watching  the 
sailors,  they  saw  them  unfurl  one  after  another 
of  the  sails,  and  spread  them  to  the  wind ;  for 
the  wind  was  now  fair,  and  it  was  fresh 
enough  to  assist  the  engines  considerably  in 
propelling  the  ship  through  the  water.  Still, 
as  the  ship  was  going  the  same  way  with  the 
wind,  the  breeze  was  scarcely  felt  upon  the 
deck.  The  air  was  mild  and  balmy,  and  the 
surface  of  the  sea  was  comparatively  smooth, 
so  that  the  voyage  was  beginning  very  pros- 
perously. Rollo  looked  all  around  the  horizon, 
but  he  could  see  no  land  in  any  direction. 
There  was  not  even  a  ship  insight;  nothing 
but  one  wide  and  boundless  waste  of  waters. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  73 


**I  should  think  that  there  would  be  some 
other  ships  going  to  England  to-day,"  he  said, 
** besides  ours." 

Jane  did  not  know  what  to  think  on  such  a 
subject,  and  so  she  did  not  reply. 

**Let  us  watch  for  whales/*  said  RoUo.  **Per- 
haps  we  shall  see  a  whale.  You  watch  the 
water  all  along  on  that  side,  and  I  will  on  this 
side;  and  if  you  see  any  whale  spout,  tell  me. " 

So  they  both  kept  watch  for  some  time,  but 
neither  of  them  saw  any  spouting.  Jane  gave 
one  alarm,  having  seen  some  large,  black-look- 
ing monsters  rise  to  the  surface  not  far  from 
them  on  one  side  of  the  ship.  She  called  out 
eagerly  to  Rollo  to  look.  He  did  so,  but  he 
said  that  they  were  not  whales;  they  were  por- 
poises. He  had  seen  porpoises  often  before,  in 
bays  and  harbors. 

Just  then  the  bell  near  the  helmsman's  win- 
dow struck  again,  though  in  a  manner  a  little 
different  from  before;  for  after  the  two  pairs 
of  strokes  which  had  been  heard  before  there 
came  a  single  stroke,  making  five  in  all, 
thus: — 

Ding — ding!    Ding — ding!  Ding. 

Immediately  afterward  the  sound  was 
repeated  in  the  forward  part  of  the  ship,  as  it 
had  been  before. 

Ding — ding!    Ding — ding!  Ding. 

**I  wonder  what  that  means,"  said  Rollo. 

Just  then  an  officer  of  the  ship,  in  his  walk 
tip  and  down  the  deck,  passed  near  to  where 
Rollo  was  sitting,  and  Rollo  instinctively  deter- 
mined to  ask  him. 


74  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

"Will  you  please  tell  me,  sir,  what  that  strik- 
ing means?" 

**It's  five  bells,"  said  the  man;  and  so 
walked  on. 


V 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  75 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  CONVERSATION. 

Rollo  at  first  felt  quite  disappointed  that  the 
officer  seemed  so  little  disposed  to  give  him 
information ;  but  immediately  after  the  officer 
had  gone  another  man  came  by,  one  of  the 
passengers,  as  Rollo  supposed,  who  proved  to 
be  more  communicative.  He  wore  a  glazed 
cap  and  a  very  shaggy  greatcoat.  He  sat  down 
by  the  side  of  Jennie,  Rollo  being  on  the  other 
side,  and  said, — 

**He  does  not  seem  inclined  to  tell  you  much 
about  the  bells,  does  he,  Rollo?" 

**No,  sir,"  replied  Rollo;  **but  how  did  you 
know  that  my  name  was  Rollo?" 

**0,  I  heard  about  you  down  in  the  cabin," 
replied  the  stranger;  ''and  about  you  too, 
Jennie,  and  your  beautiful  little  kitten.  But  I 
will  explain  the  meaning  of  the  bells  to  you. 
I  know  all  about  them.  I  belong  on  board 
this  ship.    I  am  the  surgeon. " 

*'Are  you?"  said  Rollo.  **I  did  not  know 
that  there  was  any  surgeon  in  the  ship. " 

**Yes, "  replied  the  gentleman.  **It  is  quite 
necessary  to  have  a  surgeon.  Sometimes  the 
seamen  get  hurt,  and  require  attendance;  and 
then  sometimes  there  are  cases  of  sickness 
among  the  passengers.     I  have  got  quite  a 


76  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


little  apothecary's  shop  in  my  state  room.  I 
will  show  it  to  you  by  and  by.  But  now  about 
the  bells. 

**You  must  know/*  continued  the  surgeon, 
**that  people  strike  the  time  at  sea  in  a  very 
different  manner  from  that  which  is  customary 
on  land.  In  the  first  place,  they  have  a  man 
to  strike  it;  they  cannot  have  a  clock." 

"I  do  not  see  why  not,*'  said  Rollo. 

** Because  at  sea,"  rejoined  the  surgeon,  **the 
time  changes  every  day,  and  no  clock  going 
regularly  can  keep  it.  Time  depends  upon  the 
sun,  and  when  the  ship  is  going  east  she  goes 
to  meet  the  sun  J  and  it  becomes  noon,  that  is, 
midday,  earlier.  When  the  ship  is  going  west, 
she  goes  away  from  the  sun,  and  then  it 
becomes  noon  later.  Thus  noon  has  to  be 
fixed  every  day  anew  and  a  clock  going  regu- 
larly all  the  time  would  be  continually  getting 
wrong.  Then,  besides,  the  rolling  and  pitch- 
ing of  the  ship  would  derange  the  motion  of 
of  the  weights  and  pendulum  of  the  clock.  In 
fact,  I  don*t  believe  that  a  clock  could  be  made 
to  go  at  all — unless,  indeed,  it  were  hung  on 
gimbals." 

**What  are  gimbals?"  asked  Rollo. 

*'They  are  a  pair  of  rings,**  replied  the  sur- 
geon,  **one  within  the  other,  and  each  mounted 
on  pivots  in  such  a  manner  that  any  thing 
hung  within  the  inner  ring  will  swing  any  way 
freely.  The  lamps  down  in  the  cabin  are  hang 
on  gimbals." 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  ''I  saw  them." 

**Thea,  besides,*'  continued  the  surgeon  if 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  77 


the  men  strike  the  bells  themselves,  the  sound, 
coming  regularly  every  half  hour,  proves  that 
they  are  at  their  posts  and  attending  to  their 
duties.  So  that,  even  if  a  machine  could  be 
invented  to  strike  the  time  on  board  ship  every 
so  truly,  I  do  not  think  they  would  like  to  adopt 
it. 

**Another  difference  in  striking  the  time  on 
board  ship,"  continued  the  surgeon,  **is,  that 
they  strike  it  by  half  hours  instead  of  by  hours. 
Scarcely  any  of  the  ship's  company  have 
watches.  In  fact,  watches  are  of  very  little 
use  at  sea,  the  time  is  so  continually  changing 
from  day  to  day.  The  sailors,  therefore,  and 
nearly  all  on  board,  depend  wholly  on  the 
bells;  and  it  is  necessary,  accordingly,  that 
they  should  be  struck  often.  Every  two  bells, 
therefore,  means  an  hour;  and  a  single  bell  at 
the  end  means  half  an  hour.  Now,  I  will 
strike  the  bells  for  you,  and  you  may  tell  me 
what  o'clock  it  is.  We  begin  after  twelve 
o'clock. 

'*Ding!*' 

''Half  past  twelve, said  Rollo. 
**Ding — ding!"  said  the  surgeon  again,  imi- 
tating the  sound  of  the  bell  with  his  voice. 
'*One  o'clock,"  said  Rollo. 
*'Ding — ding!    Ding!"  said  the  surgeon. 
"Half  past  one  o'clock. " 
**  Ding — ding !    Ding — ding !" 
•* Two  o'clock!" 

•*Ding — ding!  Ding — ding!  Ding!" 
•'Half  past  two." 

**Ding— ding!   Ding — ding!  Ding — ding!*  ^ 


78 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


**Three!'' 

**Ding — ding!  Ding — ding!  Ding — dingl 
Ding!** 

•*Half  past  three." 

**Ding — ding!  Ding — ding!  Ding — ding! 
Ding — ding!" 
**Four  o'clock." 

•*Yes,"  said  the  surgeon,  **that  is  eight  bells, 
and  that  is  the  end.  Now  they  stop  and  begin 
again  with  one  bell,  which  means  half  past 
four;  and  so  they  go  on  to  eight  bells  again, 
which  makes  it  eight  o'clock.  The  next  eight 
bells  is  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  and  the  next  is 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  the  next  at 
eight  o'clock.  So  that  eight  bells  means  four 
o'clock,  and  eight  o'clock,  and  twelve  o'clock, 
by  day;  and  four  o'clock,  and  eight  o'clock, 
and  twelve  o'clock,  by  night." 

**Yes, "  said  RoUo,  **now  I  understand  it. " 

'*Eight  bells  is  a  very  important  striking," 
continued  the  surgeon.  **It  is  a  curious  fact 
that  almost  everything  important  that  is  done 
at  sea  is  done  at  some  eight  bells  or  other." 

**How  is  that?"  asked  Rollo. 

**Why,  in  the  first  place,"  replied  the  sur- 
geon, **at  eight  bells  in  the  morning,  the  gong 
sounds  to  wake  the  passengers  up.  Then  the 
watch  changes,  too;  that  is,  the  set  of  men  that 
have  been  on  deck  and  had  care  of  the  ship 
and  the  sails  since  midnight  go  below,  and  a 
new  watch,  that  is,  a  new  set  of  men  that  have 
been  asleep  since  midnight,  take  their  places. 
Then  the  next  eight  bells,  which  is  twelve,  is 
luncheon  time.    At  this  time,  too,  the  captain 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  M 


finds  out  from  the  sun  whereabouts  we  are  on 
the  ocean,  and  also  determines  the  ship's  time 
for  the  next  twenty-four  hours.  The  next 
eight  bells  is  at  four  o'clock,  and  that  is  dinner 
time.  The  next  eight  bells  is  at  eight  o'clock, 
and  that  is  tea  time.  At  all  these  times  the 
watches  change  too;  and  so  they  do  at  the 
eight  bells,  which  sound  at  midnight. ' ' 

**Yes,"  said  RoUo,  *'now  I  understand  it.  I 
wished  to  know  very  much  what  it  meant,  and 
I  had  a  great  mind  to  go  and  ask  the  helms- 
man." 

**It  was  well  that  you  did  not  go  and  ask 
him,"  said  the  surgeon. 
'*Why?"  asked  Rollo. 

**  Because  the  officers  and  seamen  on  board 
ships,"  replied  the  surgeon,  "don't  like  to  be 
troubled  with  questions  from  landsmen  while 
they  are  engaged  in  their  duties.  Even  the 
sensible  questions  of  landsmen  appear  very 
foolish  to  seamen ;  and  then,  besides,  they  com* 
monly  ask  a  great  many  that  are  absolutely 
very  foolish.  They  ask  the  captain  when  he 
thinks  they  will  get  to  the  end  of  the  voyage ; 
or,  if  the  wind  is  ahead,  they  ask  him  when  he 
thinks  it  will  change,  and  all  such  foolish  ques- 
tions ;  as  if  the  captain  or  anybody  else  could 
tell  when  the  wind  would  change.  Sailors 
have  all  sorts  of  queer  answers  to  give  to  these 
questions,  to  quiz  the  passengers  who  ask 
them,  and  amuse  themselves.  For  instance,  if 
the  passengers  ask  when  anything  is  going  to 
happen,  the  sailors  say,  *The  first  of  the 
month. '    That  is  a  sort  of  proverb  among 


80  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


them,  and  is  meant  only  in  fun.  But  if  it  hap- 
pens to  be  near  the  end  of  the  month,  the  pas- 
sengers, supposing  the  answer  is  in  earnest, 
goes  away  quite  satisfied,  while  the  sailors 
wink  at  each  other  and  laugh. 

*'Yes/'  said  Roilo.  **I  heard  a  lady  ask  the 
captain,  a  short  time  since,  when  he  thought 
we  should  get  to  Liverpool. " 

*'And  what  did  the  captain  say?"  asked  the 
surgeon. 

**He  said/'  replied  Rollo,  **that  she  must  go 
and  ask  Boreas  and  Neptun^,  and  some  of 
those  fellows,  for  they  could  tell  a  great  deal 
better  than  he  could." 

**The  captain  does  not  like  to  be  asked  any 
such  questions,"  continued  the  surgeon.  **He 
cannot  possibly  know  how  the  wind  and  sea 
are  going  to  be  diiring  the  voyage,  and  he  does* 
not  like  to  be  teased  with  foolish  inquiries  on 
the  subject.  There  is  no  end  to  the  foolish- 
ness of  the  questions  which  landsmen  ask  when 
they  are  at  sea.  Once  I  heard  a  man  stop 
a  sailor,  as  he  v/aj  going  up  the  shrouds,  to 
inquire  of  him  wh  ther  he  thought  they  would 
see  any  whales  on  that  voyage. " 

'*And  what  did  the  sailor  tell  him?"  asked 
Rollo. 

**He  told  him,"  replied  the  surgeon,  **that 
he  thought  there  would  be  some  in  sight  th 
next  morning  about  sunrise.  So  the  passenger 
got  up  early  the  next  morning  and  took  his 
seat  on  the  deck,  watching  everywhere  for 
whales,  while  the  sailors  on  the  forcastle,  who 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  81 


had  told  the  story  to  one  another,  were  all 
laughing  at  him.** 

Rollo  himself  laughed  at  this  story. 

'*  These  questions,  after  all,  are  not  really  so 
foolish  as  they  seem,*'  said  the  surgeon.  **For 
instance,  if  a  passenger  asks  about  seeing 
whales,  he  means  merely  to  inquire  whether 
there  are  whales  in  that  part  of  the  ocean,  and 
whether  they  are  usually  seen  from  the  ships 
that  pass  along ;  and  if  so,  how  frequently,  in 
ordinary  cases,  the  sight  of  them  may  be 
expected.  All  this,  rightly  understood,  is 
sensible  and  proper  enough;  but  sailors  are 
not  great  philosophers,  and  they  generally  see 
nothing  in  such  inquiries  but  proofs  of  ridicu- 
lous simplicity  and  chances  for  them  to  make 
fun. 

'*You  can  tell  just  how  it  seems  to  them 
yourself,  Rollo,*'  continued  the  surgeon,  '*by 
imagining  that  some  farmer's  boys  lived  on  a 
farm  where  sailors,  who  had  never  been  in  the 
country  before,  came  by  every  day,  and  asked 
an  endless  series  of  ridiculous  questions.  For 
instance,  on  seeing  a  sheep,  the  sailor  would 
ask  what  that  was.  The  farmer's  boys  would 
tell  him  it  was  a  sheep.  The  sailor  would  ask 
what  it  was  for.  The  boys  would  say  they  kept 
sheep  to  shear  them  and  get  the  wool.  Then 
presently  the  sailor  would  see  a  cow,  and  would 
ask  if  that  was  a  kind  of  a  sheep.  The 
farmer's  boys  would  say  no,  it  was  a  cow. 
Then  the  sailor  would  ask  if  they  sheared  cows 
to  get  the  wool  No,  the  boys  would  say,  we 
milk  cows.     Then  presently  he  would  see  a 

6  Atlantic 


£2  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


horse,  and  he  would  ask  whether  that  was  a 
cow  or  a  sheep.  They  would  say  it  was 
neither;  it  was  a  horse.  Then  the  sailor  would 
ask  whether  they  kept  horses  to  milk  or  to 
shear  them  and  so  on  forever/* 

RoUo  laughed  loud  and  long  at  these  imagin- 
ary  questionings.    At  last  he  said, — 

'*But  I  don't  think  we  ask  such  foolish  ques- 
tions as  these. " 

*'They  do  not  seem  so  foolish  to  you," 
replied  the  surgeon,  '*but  they  do  to  the  sailors. 
The  sailors,  you  see,  know  all  the  ropes  and 
rigging  of  the  ship,  and  everything  seen  at  sea, 
just  as  familiarly  as  boys  who  live  in  the  coun- 
try do  sheep,  and  cows,  and  wagons,  and  other 
such  objects  seen  about  the  farm ;  and  the  total 
ignorance  in  regard  to  them  which  landsmen 
betray,  whenever  they  begin  to  ask  questions 
on  board,  seems  to  the  sailors  extremely  ridic- 
ulous and  absurd.  So  they  often  make  fun  of 
the  passengers  who  ask  them,  and  put  all  sorts 
of  jokes  upon  them.  For  instance,  a  passenger 
on  board  a  packet  ship  once  asked  a  sailor 
what  time  they  would  heave  the  log.  'The 
log,*  said  the  sailor,  *they  always  heave  the 
log  at  nine  bells.  When  you  hear  nine  bells 
strike,  go  aft,  and  you'll  see  them.'  So  the 
passenger  watched  and  counted  the  bells  every 
time  they  struck,  all  the  morning,  in  the  hopes 
to  hear  the  nine  bells,  whereas  they  never 
strike  more  than  eight  bells.  It  was  as  if  a 
man  had  said,  on  land,  that  such  or  such  a 
thing  would  happen  at  thirteen  o'clock/* 

Rollo  and  Jennie  laughed. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  83 


**So  yon  must  be  careful, "  continued  the  sur- 
geon, '*what  questions  you  ask  of  the  officers 
and  seamen  about  the  ship;  and  you  must  be 
careful,  too,  what  you  believe  in  respect  to  the 
things  they  tell  you.  Perhaps  it  will  be  the 
truth  they  will  tell  you,  and  perhaps  they  will 
be  only  making  fun  of  you.  You  may  ask  me, 
however,  anything  you  like.  I  will  answer  you 
honestly.  I  am  at  leisure,  and  can  tell  you  as 
well  as  not.  Besides,  I  like  to  talk  with 
young  persons  like  you.  I  have  a  boy  at  home 
myself  of  just  about  your  rating. " 

** Where  is  your  home?"  asked  Rollo. 

**It  is  upon  the  North  River,"  said  the  sur- 
geon, **about  one  hundred  miles  from  New 
York.  And  now  I  must  go  away,  for  it  is 
almost  eight  bells,  and  that  is  dinner  time.  I 
shall  see  you  again  by  and  by.  There's  one 
thing  more,  though,  that  I  must  tell  you  before 
I  go ;  and  that  is,  that  you  had  better  not  go  to 
any  strange  places  about  the  ship  where  you  do 
not  see  the  other  passengers  go.  For  instancfe, 
you  must  not  go  up  upon  the  paddle  boxes.'* 

** No,'*  said  Rollo,  "I  saw  a  sign  painted, 
saying  that  passengers  were  not .  allowed  to  go 
upon  the  paddle  boxes  " 

.  *'And  you  must  not  go  forward  among  the 
sailors,  or  climb  up  upon  the  rigging,'*  contin- 
ued the  surgeon. 

*'Why  not?"  asked  Rollo. 

**  Because  those  parts  of  the  ship  are  for  the 
seamen  alone,  and  for  others  like  them,  who 
have  duties  to  perform  on  shipboard  What 
should  you  think,"  continued  the  surgeon,  **i£ 


84  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


some  one  who  had  come  to  make  a  visit  at  your 
house  were  to  go  up  stairs,  looking  about  in  all 
the  chambers,  or  down  into  the  kitchen,  exam- 
ining everything  there  to  see  what  he  could 
find?'* 

•'I  should  think  it  was  very  strange, "  said 
Jennie. 

*' Certainly,"  said  the  surgeon,  **and  it  is  the 
same  on  board  ship.  There  are  certain  parts 
of  the  ship,  such  as  the  cabins,  the  state  rooms, 
and  the  quarter  decks,  which  are  appropriated 
to  the  passengers ;  and  there  are  certain  other 
parts,  such  as  the  forecastle,  the  bows,  and  the 
rigging,  which  are  the  domains  of  the  seamen. 
It  is  true  that  sometimes  a  passenger  may  go 
into  these  places  without  impropriety,  as,  for 
example,  when  he  has  some  business  there,  or 
when  he  is  specially  invited ;  just  as  there  may 
circumstances  which  v:ould  render  it  proper 
for  a  gentleman  to  go  into  the  kitchen,  or  into 
the  garret,  at  a  house  where  he  is  visiting. 
But  those  are  exceptions  to  the  general  rules, 
and  boys  especially,  both  when  visiting  in 
houses  and  when  they  are  passengers  on  board 
ships,  should  be  very  careful  to  keep  in  proper 
places." 

**I  am  glad  I  did  not  go  climbing  up  the  rig- 
ging," said  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  replied  the  surgeon.  "Once  I  knew 
a  passenger  go  climbing  up  the  shrouds  on 
board  an  East  Indiaman,  and  when  he  had  got 
half  way  up  to  the  main  top,  and  began  to  be 
afraid  to  proceed,  the  sailors  ran  up  after  him, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  85 


and,  under  pretence  of  helping  him,  they  tied 
him  there,  hand  and  foot,  with  spun  yarn." 

*^Ha!"  said  Rollo.     *^And  what  did  he  do?'' 

**He  begged  them  to  let  him  down,  but  they 
would  not.  They  said  it  was  customary,  when- 
ever a  landsmen  came  up  into  the  rigging,  for 
him  to  pay  for  his  footing  bj''  a  treat  to  the  sail- 
ors; and  that  they  would  let  him  down  if  he 
would  give  them  a  dollar  for  a  treat." 

**And  did  he  give  it  to  them?'*  asked  Rollo. 

'*Yes,  he  said  he  would,"  replied  the  sur- 
geon, **if  they  would  untie  one  of  his  hands,  so 
that  he  could  get  the  dollar  out  of  his  pocket. 
So  they  untied  one  of  his  hands,  and  he  gave 
them  the  dollar.  Then  they  untied  his  other 
hand  and  his  feet,  and  so  let  him  go  down." 

**Why  did  not  he  call  the  captain?"  asked 
Rollo. 

'*0,  the  captain  would  not  have  paid  any 
attention  to  such  a  case,"  replied  the  surgeon. 
'*If  he  had  been  on  deck  at  the  time  he  would 
have  looked  the  other  way,  and  would  have 
pretended  not  to  see  what  was  going  on ;  but  he 
would  really  have  been  pleased.  He  would 
have  considered  the  passenger  as  justly  pun- 
ished for  climbing  about  where  he  had  no  busi- 
ness to  go.  *  * 

Rollo  was  greatly  interested  in  this  narra- 
tive. He  thought  what  a  narrow  escape  he  had 
had  in  deciding  that  he  would  not  attempt  to 
climb  up  the  shrouds,  and  he  secretly  deter- 
mined that  he  would  be  very  careful,  not  only 
while  he  was  on  board  the  steamer,  but  also 
on  all  other  occasions,  not  to  violate  the  pro- 


86 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


prieties  of  life  by  obtruding  himself  into  places 
where  he  ought  not  to  go. 

The  surgeon  now  went  away,  leaving  Rollo 
and  Jane  on  the  settee  together. 

wish/*  said  Rollo,  *'that  I  had  asked  him 
what  he  meant  by  heaving  the  log." 

"No,"  said  Jane,  **you  must  not  ask  any 
questions." 

Yes,"  replied  Rollo,  **I  may  ask  him  ques- 
tions. He  said  that  I  might  ask  any  questions 
that  I  pleased  of  him. " 

**Well, "  said  Jane,  "then  you  must  ask  him 
the  next  time  you  see  him. " 

**I  will,"  said  Rollo.  ** And  now  let  us  go 
down  into  our  state  room  and  find  Maria,  and 
get  ready  to  go  to  dinner." 

''Well,"  said  Jane,  *'only  let  me  go  first 
alone.  I  want  to  see  if  I  cannot  find  my  way 
to  the  stateroom  alone." 

Rollo  acceded  to  this  proposal,  and  he  accord- 
ingly remained  on  the  settee  himself  while 
Jane  went  down.  Jane  looked  up  toward  him 
when  she  turned  to  go  down  the  steep  flight  of 
stairs  which  led  from  the  promenade  deck, 
with  a  smile  upon  her  countenance  which 
seemed  to  say,  *'You  see  I  am  right  so  far," 
and  then,  descending  the  steps, — holding  on 
carefully  all  the  time  by  the  green  rope, — she 
soon  disappeared  from  view.  Rollo  waited  a 
proper  time,  and  then  followed  Jane.  He 
found  her  safe  upon  the  couch  in  her  state 
room,  with  Maria  seated  by  her  side. 

In  a  very  few  minutes  after  Rollo  came  into 
the  state  room  eight  bells  struck,  and  §o  they 


I 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  87 

all  went  out  to  dinner.  At  first,  Jennie  said 
that  she  did  not  wish  to  go.  She  did  not  wis^ 
for  any  dinner.  In  fact,  RoUo  perceived,  in 
looking  at  her,  that  she  was  beginning  to  be 
a  little  pale.  Maria  told  her,  however,  that 
she  had  better  go  and  take  some  dinner. 

*'The  rule  at  sea,'*  said  Maria,  ** always  is,  to 
go  to  the  table  if  you  possibly  can." 

So  they  all  went  out  into  the  dining  saloon 
through  the  long  and  narrow  passages  that 
have  been  already  described.  They  were 
obliged  to  put  their  hands  up  to  the  sides  of 
the  passage  ways,  first  to  one  side  and  then  to 
the  other,  to  support  themselves,  on  account 
of  the  rolling  of  the  ship,  for  there  now  began 
to  be  considerable  motion.  When  they 
reached  the  saloon  they  staggered  into  their 
places,  and  there  sat  rocking  gently  to  and 
fro  on  the  long  swell  of  the  sea,  and  prepared 
to  eat  their  dinner. 

The  dinner  was  very  much  like  a  dinner  in 
a  fine  hotel  on  land,  except  that,  as  every- 
thing was  in  motion,  it  required  some  care  to 
prevent  the  glasses  and  plates  from  sliding 
about  and  spilling  what  they  contained.  Be- 
sides the  ledges  along  the  sides  of  the  tables, 
there  were  also  two  running  up  and  down  in 
the  middle  of  it,  partitioning  off  the  space 
where  the  various  dishes  were  placed,  in  the 
center,  from  the  space  along  the  sides  where 
the  plates,  and  knives,  and  forks,  and  tum- 
blers of  the  several  guests  were  laid.  This 
arrangement  served,  in  some  measure,  to 
teep  everything  in  its  place ;  but  notwith- 


88  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

Standing  this,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  sliding 
and  jingling  among  the  glasses  whenever  an 
unusual  sea  came  rolling  along.  In  one  case, 
a  tumbler,  which  the  person  whom  it  belonged 
to  had  not  properly  secured,  came  sliding 
down  toward  him,  while  his  hands  were  busy 
taking  care  of  his  soup  plate ;  and  when  it 
came  to  the  ledge  which  formed  the  edge  of 
the  table,  the  bottom  of  it  was  stopped,  but 
the  top  went  over,  and  poured  all  the  water 
into  the  gentleman's  lap.  Upon  this  all  the 
passengers  around  the  place  laughed  very 
heartily. 

•'There,  RoUo,"  said  Jane,  •'you  had  better 
be  careful,  and  not  let  your  tumbler  get 
upset." 

*'Why,  it  is  nothing  but  water, replied 
RoUo.  **It  won't  do  any  harm.  I  would  as 
lief  have  a  little  water  spilled  on  me  as  not." 

'*I  should  not  care  about  the  water  so  much," 
replied  Jennie;  '*but  3  would  not  as  lief  have 
everybody  laughing  at  tne  as  not." 

This  was  a  very  important  distinction,  and 
RoUo  concluded  that  it  was,  after  all,  better 
to  be  careful.  He  watched  the  movements  of 
the  other  passengers  when  the  seas  came,  and 
observed  the  precautions  which  they  took  to 
guard  against  such  accidents,  and  by  imitat- 
ing these  he  soon  became  quite  adroit.  The 
dinner  took  a  good  deal  of  time,  as  there  were 
many  courses,  all  served  with  great  regu- 
larity. First,  there  was  soup;  then  fish  of 
various  kinds;  then  all  sorts  of  roasted  meats, 
such  as  beef,  mutton,  chickens,  and  ducks, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  89 


with  a  great  variety  of  vegetables.  Then  came 
puddings,  pies,  jellies,  ice  creams,  and  pre- 
serves; and,  finally,  a  dessert  of  nuts,  raisins, 
apples,  almonds,  and  oranges.  In  fact,  it  wa^ 
a  very  sumptuous  dinner,  and  what  was  very 
remarkable,  when  at  last  it  was  ended,  and 
the  party  rose  from  the  table  to  go  back  to  the 
cabin,  Jennie  said  that  she  had  a  better  appe- 
tite at  the  end  of  the  dinner  than  she  had  had 
at  the  beginning. 


90  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

INCIDENTS. 

By  the  time  that  Rollo  and  Jennie  had  been 
two  days  at  sea,  they  had  become  accustomed 
to  their  novel  position,  and  they  began  to  feel 
quite  at  home  on  board  the  ship.  They 
formed  acquaintance  with  several  of  the  pas- 
sengers, and  they  went  to  and  fro  about  the 
cabins  and  decks,  and  visited  their  friends  in 
their  state  rooms  quite  freely,  sometimes  alone 
and  sometimes  together.  The  sky  was  clear, 
and  the  water  was  comparatively  smooth.  It 
is  true  that  there  was  a  long  swell  upon  the 
surface  of  the  sea,  which  produced  a  contin- 
ual, though  gentle,  rocking  of  the  ship,  that 
made  many  of  the  passengers  sick  and  uncom- 
fortable. Rollo  and  Jane,  however,  felt  for 
the  most  part  quite  well.  Sometimes,  for  a 
short  period,  one  or  the  other  of  them  looked 
pale,  and  seemed  dispirited.  At  such  times 
they  would  lie  down  upon  the  couch  in  their 
state  room,  or  upon  a  sofa  in  one  of  the 
saloons,  and  remain  quietly  there  an  hour  at  a 
time.  Jennie  usually  in  such  cases  was  accus- 
tomed to  lie  on  the  couch  in  her  state  room, 
on  account  of  the  seclusion  of  it ;  while  Rollo, 
on  the  other  hand,  seemed  to  prefer  the 
saloon.    He,  being  a  boy,  did  not  g^r^  so  much 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


about  the  seclusion.  On  the  contfary,  it 
amused  him  to  see  the  people  going  to  and  fro 
and  to  watch  the  reflections  of  their  forms  in 
the  mirrors  about  him.  Sometimes,  also,  it 
would  happen  that  there  were  two  or  more  of 
the  passengers  seated  near  him  and  engaged 
in  conversation,  that  it  entertained  him  to 
hear;  especially  when  it  related,  as  it  often 
did,  to  adventures  and  incidents  that  they  had 
met  with  at  sea  on  former  voyages.  It  was 
necessary,  however,  that  persons  thus  convers- 
ing should  be  seated  very  near,  in  order  that 
Rollo  should  hear  them ;  for  the  ship  kept  up 
a  continual  creaking  in  all  its  joints,  from  the 
rolling  of  the  sea,  which  made  it  very  difficult 
to  hear  what  was  said  across  the  cabin. 

The  mirrors,  however,  and  the  reflections  in 
them,  produced  the  most  singular  illusions, 
and  were  a  source  of  continual  interest  to 
Rollo's  mind,  as  he  lay  upon  the  sofa  sur- 
rounded by  them.  There  were  so  many  of 
these  mirrors,  that  the  saloon,  and  all  that 
pertained  to  it,  were  reflected  a  great  many 
times,  and  thus  produced  the  most  wonderful 
effects.  Long  passages  were  seen  running  off 
in  all  directions,  and  cabin  beyond  cabin,  in 
an  endless  perspective.  So  bright  and  dis- 
tinct, too,  were  the  reflections,  that  it  was 
difficult  to  tell  whether  what  you  were  looking 
at  was  real,  or  only  an  imagined  reflection  of 
it.  Sometimes  Rollo  would  see,  apparently 
at  a  great  distance,  a  man  walking  along 
among  carved  columns  in  some  remote  passage 
way,  and  then,  in  an  instant,  the  man  would 


92  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


pass  directly  by  his  sofa.  He  had  been  near 
all  the  time,  and  it  was  only  some  third  or 
fourth  reflection  of  him  that  RoUo  had  seen. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  of  RuUo's 
voyage,  just  before  eight  bells,  which  would  * 
be  the  time  for  dinner,  as  Rollo  was  lying  on 
a  sofa  in  the  saioon,  feeling  very  miserably, 
and  extremely  disinclined  to  speak  or  to  move, 
two  young  men  came  along,  talking  in  a  loud 
and  somewhat  noisy  manner.  They  stopped 
opposite  to  him,  and  one  of  them  began  punch- 
ing Rollo  with  the  curved  head  of  his  cane, 
saying,— 

*'Well,  Rollo,  what's  the  matter  with  you? 
Sick?  O,  get  up,  boy,  and  drive  about.  Don't 
lie  moping  here  like  a  landlubber.  Get  up, 
and  go  and  eat  some  dinner.  It  is  almost 
eight  bells." 

Rollo  wished  very  much  that  these  visitors 
would  leave  him  alone.  He  made  very  little 
reply  to  them,  only  saying  that  he  did  not  wish 
for  any  dinner.  In  fact,  he  felt  sure  that,  if 
he  were  to  go  to  the  table,  he  could  not  eat 
anything. 

The  men,  after  laughing  at  him,  and  punch- 
ing him,  and  teasing  him  a  little  longer,  went 
away. 

A  few  minutes  after  this,  Maria  and  Jennie 
came  into  the  saloon.  They  were  ready  to  go 
to  dinner,  and  so  they  came  into  the  saloon  to 
wait  there  till  the  gong  should  sound.  When 
they  saw  Rollo  lying  upon  the  sofa,  they  went 
up  to  him,  but  did  not  speak.  Rollo  opened 
his  eyes  and  looked  at  them-    Maria  smiled, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  9S 


but  still  did  not  speak.  Rollo  smiled  in  return, 
though  somewhat  faintly,  and  then  shut  his 
eyes  again.  Then  Maria  led  Jennie  away, 
gently. 

**You  see,"  said  Maria  to  Jennie,  when  they 
had  gone  out  of  Rollo's  hearing,  *'he  feels  a 
1  ctle  sick,  and  when  a  person  feels  seasick  they 
do  n  t  like  to  talk.  I  am  going  to  get  him  a 
bowl  of  broth.  *' 

**Well,**  said  Jennie,  '*let  me  go  and  ask 
him  if  he  would  like  some. " 

"No,"  said  Maria.  '*If  you  were  to  ask 
him,  he  would  say  no.  He  would  think  that 
he  could  not  eat  it;  and  yet,  if  I  bring  it  to 
him,  without  saying  anything  about  it,  when  he 
tastes  it  perhaps  he  will  like  it.  In  fact,  when 
people  are  sick,  it  is  always  better  not  to  ask 
them  too  much  about  what  they  would  like. 
It  is  better  to  consider  what  we  think  they 
would  like,  and  bring  it  to  them,  without  say- 
ing anything  about  it  beforehand." 

So  saying,  Maria  rang  the  saloon  bell.  The 
chambermaid  came  in  answer  to  the  summons. 
Maria  then  sent  the  chambermaid  to  the  din- 
ing saloon  to  bring  a  bowl  of  chicken  broth  to 
her.  The  chambermaid  went  out,  and  pres- 
ently returned,  bringing  the  broth,  just  as  the 
gong  was  sounding  for  dinner.  Maria  carried 
the  broth  to  Rollo. 

When  she  offered  it  to  him,  Rollo  thought 
at  first  that  he  should  not  be  able  to  take  but 
two  or  three  spoonfuls  of  it,  but  on  tasting  it 
he  found  that  he  liked  it  very  much.    He  ate 


U  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


it  all,  and,  as  he  lay  down  again  upon  his  sofa, 
he  said  that  he  felt  a  great  deal  better. 

Maria  then  told  him  that  he  might  lie  still 
there  as  long  as  he  pleased ;  adding,  that  she 
and  Jennie  were  going  to  dinner.  Maria  and 
Jennie  then  went  away,  leaving  Rollo  alone 
again. 

Rollo  felt  so  much  better  for  the  broth  that 
he  had  taken,  that  pretty  soon  he  rose  from 
his  recumbent  position,  and  began  to  sit  up. 
Presently  he  said  to  himself,  *'How  much  bet- 
ter I  do  feel ;  I  believe  I  will  go  and  get  some 
dinner.'* 

So  he  rose  from  the  sofa,  and  began  to  stag- 
ger along  toward  the  door  of  the  saloon.  He 
found,  however,  that  after  all  he  felt  some- 
what giddy  and  light  headed;  and  he  con- 
cluded, therefore,  that,  instead  of  going  to 
dinner,  he  would  go  up  on  deck  and  see  how 
the  wind  was.  He  accordingly  turned  to  the 
staircase  which  led  up  to  the  main  deck,  and 
steadying  himself  by  the  hand  rail  as  he 
ascended  the  steps,  he  went  up. 

At  the  head  of  the  stairs  was  a  passage  way, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  passage  way  there  was  a 
space  upon  the  deck,  which  was  half  enclosed; 
it  being  shut  in  by  an  awning  on  the  windy 
side,  and  open  on  the  other.  This  space  was 
often  resorted  to  by  passengers  who  were  sick, 
and  who  wished  for  more  fresh  air  than  they 
could  have  below.  There  was  a  row  of  settees 
on  one  side  of  this  space,  and,  at  the  time 
that  Rollo  came  up  there,  there  was  a  lady 
lying  on  one  of  these  settees,  apparently  in  a 


ROtLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


very  forlorn  condition.  She  looked  very  pale, 
and  her  eyes  were  shut.  She  was  lying  upon 
a  mattress,  which  had  been  put  upon  the  set- 
tee for  her,  and  was  covered  up  with  blankets 
and  shawls. 

A  gentleman,  who  seemed  to  be  her  hus- 
band, was  standing  before  her,  attempting  to 
persuade  her  to  get  up.  He  did  this,  however, 
as  Rollo  thought,  in  rather  a  rough  and  heart- 
less manner. 

'*0,  get  up!  get  up!*'  said  he.  **You  never 
will  be  well  if  you  lie  here.  Come,  go  with  me 
and  get  some  dinner.** 

The  lady  said,  in  a  mournful  tone,  that  she 
could  not  get  up,  and  that  she  had  no  appetite 
for  dinner. 

**Well,'*  said  her  husband,  **I  am  going." 

**I  wish  you  could  tell  me  something  about 
Hilbert,**  said  the  lady.  **I  feel  very  anxious 
about  him.  I  am  afraid  that  he  will  get  into 
some  trouble.    He  is  so  careless." 

'*0,  no,'*  said  her  husband.  **Don*t  disturb 
yourself  about  him.  He*s  safe  enough  some- 
where, I  dare  say.*' 

So  saying,  the  gentleman  went  away. 

Rollo  immediately  conceived  the  idea  of 
performing  for  this  lady  the  kind  service 
which  Maria  had  so  successfully  performed  for 
him.  So,  without  speaking  to  her  at  all,  he 
went  immediately  down  into  the  cabin  again, 
and  thence  followed  the  long  passages  which 
led  to  the  dining  saloon,  until  he  came  to  the 
door  of  it.  He  looked  in,  and  saw  that  the 
people  were  all  seated  at  the  table,  eating 


96  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


their  dinners.  He  went  to  one  of  the  waiters, 
and  asked  him  if  he  would  bring  him  a  bowl 
of  chicken  broth,  to  carry  to  a  lady  who  was 
sick. 

The  waiter  said  that  he  would  do  so,  and 
immediately  went  to  get  the  broth.  When  he 
came  back  with  it,  he  said  to  RoUo, — 

**You  had  better  let  me  take  it  to  the  lady." 

"No,*'  said  Rollo,  "I  can  take  it  myself.  I 
know  exactly  where  she  is. " 

So  Rollo  took  the  bowl,  and  began  to  carry 
it  along.  He  did  this  without  much  difficulty, 
for  it  was  not  by  any  means  full.  Bowls  of 
broth  intended  to  be  carried  about  ship  at  sea 
are  never  entirely  full. 

When,  finally,  he  came  to  the  place  where 
the  lady  was  lying  on  the  settee,  he  stood  there 
a  moment  holding  the  bowl  in  his  hand,  with- 
out speaking,  as  he  thought  the  lady  was 
asleep;  for  her  eyes  were  shut.  In  a  moment, 
however,  she  opened  her  eyes.  Rollo  then 
said  to  her, — 

''Would  not  you  like  a  bowl  of  broth,  lady? 
I  have  brought  some  for  you.*' 

The  lady  gazed  at  Rollo  a  moment  with  a 
sort  of  bewildered  look,  and  then,  raising  her- 
self up  upon  the  settee,  she  took  the  broth,  and 
began  to  eat  it  with  the  spoon.  At  first,  she 
seemed  to  take  it  cautiously  and  with  doubt; 
but  presently,  finding  that  she  liked  it,  she 
took  spoonful  after  spoonful  with  evident 
pleasure.  Rollo  was  extremely  delighted  at 
the  success  of  his  experiment.  The  lady  said 
nothing  to  him  all  the  time  though  she  looked 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


Up  at  him  repeatedly  with  a  very  earnest  gaze 
while  she  was  taking  the  broth.  At  length 
she  finished  it,  and  then  gave  Rollo  back  the 
bowl,  saying  as  she  did  it, — 

''Did  my  husband  send  you  with  that  bowl 
of  broth  to  me?" 

*'No,*'  said  Rollo,      brought  it  myself." 

**  And  what  put  it  into  }^ourhead  to  do  that?  * 
added  the  lady. 

*'Why,  Maria  brought  some  to  me  when  I 
was  sick,"  replied  Rollo,  "and  it  did  me  good; 
and  so  I  thought  it  would  do  you  good." 

The  lady  looked  at  him  a  moment  more  with 
an  earnest  gaze,  and  then  lay  down  again,  and 
shut  her  eyes.  Presently  she  opened  them  a 
moment  and  said, — 

*'Do  you  know  my  son  Hilbert?" 

**I  have  seen  a  boy  about  the  ship,"  said 
Rollo,  **not  quite  so  big  as  I  am.  Is  that 
he?" 

**With  a  blue  jacket?"  said  the  lady. 

**Yes,"  said  Rollo,  '*and  a  bow  and  arrows." 

** That's  he,"  said  the  lady.  ''If  you  will  go 
and  find  out  where  he  is,  and  ask  him  to  come 
to  me,  you  will  do  me  a  great  deal  of  good." 

Rollo  had  seen  this  boy  several  times  in 
different  places  about  the  ship;  but  as  he 
seemed  to  be  rather  rude  and  boisterous  in  his 
manners,  and  very  forward  and  free  withal  in 
his  intercourse  with  the  passengers  who 
chanced  to  speak  to  him  from  time  to  time, 
Rollo  had  not  felt  much  disposed  to  form  an 
acquaintance  with  him.  The  boy  had  a  bow 
and  arrows,  with  which  he  had  often  amused 

7  Atlantic 


98 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


himself  in  shooting  about  the  decks.  He  did 
this  with  so  little  consideration,  that  at  last, 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  ship  told  him  that  he 
must  not  shoot  any  more  in  those  parts  of  the 
ship  where  the  ladies  were,  but  that  he  must 
go  forward,  among  the  sailors,  if  he  wished  to 
practice  archery.  So  the  boy  went  forward, 
and  from  that  time  he  spent  most  of  his  time 
on  the  forward  deck  among  the  sailors,  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  ropes  and  the  rigging. 

Rollo  now  went  in  pursuit  of  him,  and  after 
looking  for  him  in  many  places,  both  before 
and  aft,  he  finally  went  down  into  the  dining 
saloon,  and  there  he  found  Hilbert  seated  at 
the  table,  eating  dinner,  with  his  father.  His 
bow  and  arrows  were  on  the  seat  by  his  side. 
Rollo  went  up  to  the  place  where  Hilbert  was 
isitting,  and  in  a  timid  and  cautious  manner 
informed  him  that  his  mother  wished  to  see 
him. 

**My  mother!"  repeated  Hilbert,  looking  up 
surprised. 

"Yes,"  replied  Rollo;  **she  asked  me  to  tell 
you.  But  I  suppose  that  she  can  wait  until 
you  have  finished  your  dinner." 

**0,  no,"  said  Hilbert,  can't  go  at  all. 
Go  tell  her  I  can't  come. " 

Rollo  was  greatly  astonished  at  receiving 
such  a  message  as  this  from  a  boy  to  his 
mother. 

''Hilbert,"  said  his  father,  in  a  very  stern 
and  threatening  manner,  "go  to  your  mother 
directly." 

"No,"  said  Hilbert,  in  a  sort  of  begging  and 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


99 


whining  tone.  *'No,  if  I  do,  sheUl  make  me 
stay  there  all  the  afternoon." 

**  No  matter  for  that,"  said  his  father;  * 'go 
directly." 

Hilbert  did  not  move,  but  went  on  eating 
his  dinner. 

** At  least,"  said  his  father,  **you  must  go 
immediately  when  you  have  done  your 
dinner. " 

Hilbert  muttered  something  in  reply,  but 
RoUo  did  not  hear  what  it  was.  In  fact,  he  did 
not  wish  to  hear  any  more  of  such  a  dialogue 
as  this  between  a  child  and  his  father.  So  he 
went  a\^/ay.  He  was  not  at  all  inclined  to 
go  back  to  the  lady  and  inform  her  what  Hil- 
bert had  said ;  but  he  thought  that  he  ought 
at  least  to  go  and  tell  her  that  he  had  found 
Hilbert,  as  he  had  been  taught  that  it  was 
always  his  duty  to  go  back  with  a  report  when 
sent  on  a  message.  So  he  went  back  to  the 
lady,  and  told  her  that  he  had  found  Hilbert, 
and  that  he  was  at  dinner  with  his  father. 

**And  what  did  he  say  about  coming  to  me?" 
asked  the  lady. 

**His  father  told  him  that  he  must  come  as 
soon  as  he  had  finished  his  dinner,"  replied 
Rollo. 

**Very  well,"  said  the  lady,  *Hhat  will  do." 

So  saying,  she  turned  her  head  away  and 
shut  her  eyes  again,  and  so  Rollo  withdrew. 

It  would  be  a  very  nice  and  delicate  point  to 
determine  whether  Rollo* s  answer  in  this  case 
was  or  was  not  as  full  as  strict  honesty  re- 
quired.   He  certainly  did  not  state  anything 


100 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANT  C. 


that  was  not  true;  nor  did  he,  in  Vvhat  he  said, 
convey  any  false  impression.  He,  however, 
withheld  a  very  important  part  of  what  the 
lady  must  have  desired  to  know.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly sometimes  right  for  us  to  conceal  or 
withhold  the  truth.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  is 
our  imperious  duty  to  do  so.  RoUo's  motive 
for  doing-  as  he  did  in  this  case  was  to  avoid 
giving  a  sick  mother  pain,  by  reporting  to  her 
the  undutiful  conduct  of  her  son.  Whether  it 
would  or  would  not  have  been  better  for  him 
to  have  communicated  the  whole  truth,  is  a 
point  which  must  be  left  for  the  readers  of 
this  book  to  discuss  among  themselves. 

After  dinner  Hilbert,  instead  of  going  to  his 
mother,  went  up  upon  the  deck,  leaving  his 
bow  and  arrows,  however,  down  in  the  cabin. 
As  Rollo  and  Jennie  were,  at  that  time,  seated 
near  the  after  part  of  the  promenade  deck,  he 
came  and  sat  down  near  them.  Rollo  had  a 
great  desire  to  get  up  and  go  away,  taking 
Jennie  with  him;  but  he  feared  that  it  would 
be  impolite  for  him  to  do  so;  and  while  he  was 
considering  what  he  should  do,  the  surgeon 
came  along  that  way,  and  said  to  them, — 
Children,  have  you  seen  the  little  bird?** 

"What  bird?*'  exclaimed  the  children,  all  to- 
gether.** **Why,  there  has  a  bird  came  on 
board,**  replied  the  surgeon.  **He  belongs  in 
Nova  Scotia,  I  suppose.  That  is  the  nearest 
land.  He  is  forward,  somewhere,  among  the 
sailors. ' ' 

The  children  immediately  hurried  out  to  the 
most  forward  part  of  the  promenade  deck, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


101 


near  the  great  smoke  pipe,  to  a  place  from 
which  they  could  look  down  upon  the  forward 
deck.  There  they  saw  the  little  bird  perched 
upon  a  coil  of  rigging.  He  was  perfectly  still. 
Some  sailors  were  standing  near,  looking  at 
him.  The  bird,  however,  appeared  to  take  no 
notice  of  them. 

*Toor  little  thing!'*  said  Rollo.  '*I  expect 
he  is  tired  flying  so  far.  I  wonder  how  far  it 
is  to  Nova  Scotia.** 

Rollo  turned  round  as  he  said  this,  to  see  if 
the  surgeon  was  near,  in  order  to  ask  him 
how  far  the  poor  bird  was  from  home.  The 
surgeon  was  not  there,  but  he  saw  that  both 
Jennie  and  Hilbert  had  suddenly  started  to- 
gether to  go  back  toward  the  stairway,  as  if 
they  were  going  below. 

* 'Jennie/'  said  Rollo,  **  where  are  you 
going?*' 

Jennie  did  not  answer,  but  hurried  on.  Hil- 
bert seemed  equally  eager.  In  fact,  it  was 
evident  that  they  had  both  been  seized  with 
some  new  idea,  though  Rollo  could  not  at 
first  imagine  what  it  was.  At  length,  he 
said, — 

*'Ah!  I  know.  They  are  going  down  where 
the  bird  is,  to  see  it  nearer.  I'll  go  with 
them. '  • 

So  saying,  Rollo  hurried  away  too. 

He  was  mistaken,  however,  in  supposing 
that  Hilbert  and  Jennie  were  merely  going  to 
the  forward  deck  so  as  to  get  nearer  the  bird. 
Jennie  was  going  down  into  the  cabin  to  shut 
up  her  kitten.     The  instant  that  she  saw  the 


102 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


bird  she  was  reminded  of  Tiger,  having  some- 
times seen  Tiger  run  after  little  birds  in  the 
yards  and  gardens  at  home.  They  could 
escape  from  her  by  flying  away,  but  this  poor 
bird  seemed  so  tired  that  Jennie  was  afraid 
the  kitten  would  catch  it  and  kill  it,  if  she 
came  near ;  and  so  she  went  off  very  eagerly  to 
shut  the  kitten  up. 

She  found  the  kitten  asleep  on  a  sofa  in  the 
cabin.  She  immediately  seized  her,  waking 
her  up  very  suddenly  by  so  doing,  and  hurried 
her  off  at  once  to  her  cage.  Jennie  put  the 
kitten  into  the  cage,  and  then  shut  and  fas- 
tened the  door. 

•'There,  Tiger,"  said  she,  **you  must  stay 
in  there.  There  is  something  up  stairs  that 
you  must  not  see.*' 

Then  Jennie  took  the  cage  up,  by  means  of 
the  ring  which  formed  the  handle  at  the  top, 
and  carried  it  into  her  state  room.  She 
pushed  aside  the  curtains  of  the  lower  berth, 
and,  putting  the  cage  in,  she  deposited  it  upon 
a  small  shelf  in  the  end  of  the  berth.  Then, 
drawing  the  curtains  again  very  carefully,  she 
came  out  of  the  state  room  and  shut  the  door. 

**Now,  Tiger,"  said  she,  as  she  tried  the 
door  to  see  if  it  was  fast,  **you  are  safe;  and 
you  must  stay  there  until  the  little  bird  goes 
away. '  * 

The  kitten,  when  she  found  herself  thus  left 
alone  in  such  seclusion,  stood  for  a  moment 
on  the  floor  of  the  cage,  looking  toward  the 
curtains,  in  an  attitude  of  great  astonishment; 
then,   knowing  well,  from  past  experience, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  103 


that  it  was  wholly  useless  for  her  to  speculate 
on  the  reasons  of  Jennie's  doings,  she  lay 
down  upon  the  floor  of  the  cage,  curled  herself 
into  a  ring,  and  went  to  sleep  again. 

As  for  Hilbert,  who  had  set  off  from  the 
smoke  pipe  deck  at  the  same  time  with  Jennie, 
and  in  an  equally  eager  manner,  his  going  be- 
low had  been  with  an  entirely  different  intent 
from  hers.  He  was  going  to  get  his  bow  and 
arrows,  in  order  to  shoot  the  little  bird.  Hp 
found  them  on  the  seat  where  he  had  left 
them.  He  seized  them  hastily,  and  ran  up  by 
the  forward  gangway,  which  brought  him  out 
upon  the  forward  deck  not  very  far  from 
where  the  bird  was  resting  upon  the  coil  of 
rigging.  He  crept  softly  up  toward  him,  and 
adjusted,  as  he  went,  his  arrow  to  his  bow. 
Several  of  the  sailors  were  near,  and  one  of 
them,  a  man  whom  they  called  Hargo,  imme- 
diately stopped  the  operation  that  he  was  en- 
gaged in,  and  demanded  of  Hilbert  what  he 
was  going  to  do. 

am  going  to  pop  one  of  my  arrows  into 
that  bird,'*  said  Hilbert. 

*'No  such  thing,"  said  the  sailor.  **You 
pop  an  arrow  into  that  bird,  and  I'll  pop  you 
overboard." 

Sailors  will  never  allow  any  one  to  molest  or 
harm  in  any  way  the  birds  that  alight  upon 
their  ships  at  sea. 

** Overboard!"  repeated  Hilbert,  in  a  tone 
of  contempt  and  defiance.  *'You  would  not 
dare  to  do  such  a  thing. '  * 

So  saying,  he  went  on  adjusting  his  arrow, 


104  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


and,  creeping  up  toward  the  bird,  began  to 
take  aim. 

Hargo  here  made  a  signal  to  some  of  his 
comrades,  who,  in  obedience  to  it,  came  up 
near  him  in  a  careless  and  apparently  unde- 
signed manner.  Hargo  then,  by  a  sudden  and 
unexpected  movement,  pulled  the  bow  and 
arrow  out  of  Hilbert's  hand,  and  passed  them 
instantly  behind  him  to  another  sailor,  who 
passed  them  to  another,  each  standing  in  such 
a  position  as  to  conceal  what  they  did  en- 
tirely from  Hilbert's  sight.  The  thing  was 
done  so  suddenly  that  Hilbert  was  entirely  be- 
wildered. His  bow  and  arrow  were  gone,  but 
he  could  not  tell  where.  Each  sailor,  the  in- 
stant that  he  had  passed  the  bow  and  arrow  to 
the  next,  assumed  a  careless  air,  and  went  on 
with  his  work  with  a  very  grave  and  unmean- 
ing face,  as  if  he  had  not  been  taking  any 
notice  of  the  transaction.  The  last  man  who 
received  the  charge  was  very  near  the  side  of 
the  ship,  and  as  he  stood  there,  leaning  with  a 
careless  air  against  the  bulwarks,  he  slyly 
dropped  the  bow  and  arrow  overboard.  They 
fell  into  the  water  just  in  advance  of  the  pad- 
dle wheel.  As  the  ship  was  advancing 
through  the  water  all  this  time  with  tremen- 
dous speed,  the  paddle  struck  both  the  bow 
and  the  arrow  the  instant  after  they  touched 
the  water,  and  broke  them  both  into  pieces. 
The  fragments  came  out  behind,  and  floated 
off  unseen  in  the  foam  which  drifted  away  in 
a  long  line  in  the  wake  of  the  steamer. 

Hilbert  was  perfectly   confounded.  He 


r 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  105 


knew  nothing  of  the  fate  which  his  weapons 
had  met  with.  All  he  knew  was,  that  they 
had  somehow  or  other  suddenly  disappeared  as 
if  by  magic.  Hargo  had  taken  them,  he  was 
sure ;  but  what  he  had  done  with  them,  he 
could  not  imagine.  He  was  in  a  great  rage, 
and  turning  to  Hargo  with  a  fierce  look,  he 
demanded,  in  a  loud  and  furious  tone, — 
**Give  me  back  my  bow  and  arrow.** 
**I  have  not  got  your  bow  and  arrow,"  said 
Hargo. 

So  saying,  Hargo  held  up  both  hands,  by 
way  of  proving  the  truth  of  his  assertion. 

Hilbert  gazed  at  him  for  a  moment,  utterly 
at  a  loss  what  to  do  or  sav,  and  then  he  looked 
at  the  other  sailors  who  were  near,  first  at  one, 
and  then  at  another ;  but  he  could  get  no  clew 
to  the  mystery. 

**You  have  got  them  hid  behind  you,"  said 
Hilbert,  again  addressing  Hargo. 

'*No,"  saidhe.  **See.'* 

So  saying,  he  turned  round  and  let  Hilbert 
see  that  the  bow  and  arrow  were  not  behind 
him. 

**Well,  you  took  them  away  from  me,  at  any 
rate,"  said  Hilbert;  and  saying  this,  he  turned 
away  and  walked  off,  seemingly  very  angry. 
He  was  going  to  complain  to  his  father. 

He  met  his  father  coming  up  the  cabin  stairs 
and  began,  as  soon  as  he  came  near  him,  to 
complain  in  very  bitter  and  violent  language 
of  the  treatment  that  he  had  received.  Hargo 
had  taken  away  his  bow  an  arrow,  and  would 
not  give  them  back  to  him. 


106  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


**Very  well/'  replied  his  father,  quietly, 
•*you  had  been  doing  some  mischief  with 
them,  I  suppose.  *' 

*'No,"  said  Hilbert,  **I  had  not  been  doing 
anything  at  all.'* 

**Then  you  were  going  to  do  some  mischief 
with  them,  I  suppose,"  said  his  father. 

**No,"  said  Hilbert,  **I  was  only  going  to 
shoot  a  little  bird. ' ' 

**A  little  bird!"  repeated  his  father,  sur- 
prised.   **What  little  bird?" 

**Why,  a  little  bird  that  came  on  board  from 
Nova  Scotia,  they  said,"  replied  Hilbert. 
**He  came  to  rest." 

**And  you  were  going  to  shoot  him?"  said 
his  father,  in  a  tone  of  surprise.  Then,  after 
pausing  a  moment,  he  added,  **Here,  come 
with  me. " 

So  saying,  Hilbert's  father  turned  and 
walked  down  the  cabin  stairs  again.  He  led 
the  way  to  his  state  room,  which,  as  it  hap- 
pened, was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  cabin 
from  that  which  Jennie  occupied.  When  he 
reached  the  door  of  the  state  room,  he  opened 
it,  and  standing  on  one  side,  he  pointed  the 
way  to  Hilbert,  saying  sternly, — 

**Go  in  there!" 

Hilbert  went  in. 

**You  will  stay  there,  now,"  said  his  father, 
**as  long  as  that  bird  sees  fit  to  remain  on 
board.  It  won't  do,  I  see,  for  you  both  to  be 
on  deck  together." 

So  saying,  Hilbert's  father  shut  the  state 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  107 


room  door,  and  locked  it;  and  then,  putting 
the  key  in  his  pocket,  went  away. 

The  bird  was  now  safe,  his  two  enemies — 
the  only  enemies  he  had  on  board  the  steamer 
— being  shut  up  in  their  respective  state 
rooms,  as  prisoners,  one  on  one  side  of  the 
cabin,  and  the  other  on  the  other.  He  did 
not,  however,  rest  any  the  more  quietly  on 
this  account;  for  he  had  not  at  any  time  been 
conscious  of  the  danger  that  he  had  been  in, 
either  from  the  kitten  or  the  boy.  He  went 
on  reposing  quietly  at  the  resting-place  which 
he  had  chosen  on  the  coil  of  rigging,  until  at 
last,  when  his  little  wings  had  become  some- 
what reinvigorated,  he  came  down  from  it,  and 
went  hopping  about  the  deck.  Jennie  and 
Maria  then  went  down  below  and  got  some 
bread  for  him.  This  they  scattered  in  crumbs 
before  him,  and  he  came  and  ate  it  with 
great  satisfaction.  In  about  two  hours  he 
began  to  fly  about  a  little;  and  finally  he 
perched  upon  the  bulwarks,  and  looked  all  over 
the  sea.  Perceiving  that  he  was  now  strong 
enough  to  undertake  the  passage  home  to  his 
mate,  he  flew  off,  and  ascending  high  into 
the  air,  until  he  obtained  sight  of  the  coast, 
he  then  set  forth  with  great  speed  in  that 
direction.  It  was  several  hundred  miles  to 
the  shore,  and  he  had  to  rest  two  or  three 
times  on  the  way.  Once  he  alighted  on  an 
English  ship-of-war  that  was  going  into  Hali- 
fax; the  next  time  upon  a  small  fishing  boat 
on  the  Banks.  He  was  not  molested  at  either 
of  his  resting-places;   and  so  in  due  time  he 


108  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


safely  reached  the  shore,  and  joined  his  mate 
at  the  nest,  in  a  little  green  valley  in  Nova 
Scotia.  He  was  very  glad  to  get  home.  He 
had  not  intended  to  have  gone  so  far  to  sea. 
He  was  blown  off  by  a  strong  wind,  which 
came  up  suddenly  while  he  was  playing  in  the 
air,  about  five  miles  from  shore. 

The  two  prisoners  were  liberated  from  their 
state  rooms  after  having  been  kept  shut  up 
about  two  hours.  Tiger  did  not  mind  this 
confinement  at  all ;  for  her  conscience  being 
quiet,  she  did  not  trouble  herself  about  it  in 
the  least,  but  slept  nearly  the  whole  time.  It 
was,  however,  quite  a  severe  punishment  to 
Hilbert;  for  his  mind  was  all  the  time  tor- 
mented with  feelings  of  vexation,  self-reproach 
and  shame. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  lOl 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  STORM. 

The  navigation  of  the  Atlantic  by  means  of 
the  immense  sea-going  steamers  of  the  present 
day,  with  all  its  superiority  in  most  respects, 
is  attended  with  one  very  serious  disadvantge, 
at  least  for  all  romantic  people,  and  those  who 
particularly  enjoy  what  is  grand  and  sublime. 
To  passengers  on  board  an  Atlantic  steamer, 
a  storm  at  sea — that  spectacle  which  has,  in 
former  times,  been  so  often  described  as  the 
most  grand  and  sublime  of  all  the  exhibitions 
which  the  course  of  nature  presents  to  man — 
is  divested  almost  entirely  of  that  imposing 
magnificence  for  which  it  was  formerly  so 
renowned. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  this. 

First,  the  height  of  the  waves  appears  far 
less  impressive,  when  seen  from  on  board  an 
Atlantic  steamer,  than  from  any  ordinary  ves- 
sel ;  for  the  deck  in  the  case  of  these  steamers 
is  so  high,  that  the  spectator,  as  it  were,  looks 
down  upon  them.  Any  one  who  has  ever 
ascended  a  mountain  knows  very  well  what 
the  effect  is  upon  the  apparent  height  of  all 
smaller  hills,  when  they  are  seen  from  an  ele- 
vation that  is  far  higher  than  they.  In  fact,  a 
country  that  is  really  quite  hilly  is  made  to 


110  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


appear  almost  level,  by  being  surveyed  from 
any  one  summit  that  rises  above  the  other 
elevations.  The  same  is  the  case  with  the 
waves  of  the  sea,  when  seen  from  the  prome- 
nade deck  of  one  of  these  vast  steamers. 

The  waves  of  the  sea  are  never  more  than 
twelve  or  fifteen  feet  high,  although  a  very 
common  notion  prevails  that  they  run  very 
much  higher.  It  has  been  well  ascertained 
that  they  never  rise  more  than  twelve  or  fif- 
teen feet  above  the  general  level  of  the  water, 
and  if  we  allow  the  same  quantity  for  the  depth 
of  the  trough,  or  hollow  between  two  waves, 
we  shall  have  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet 
as  the  utmost  altitude  which  any  swell  of  water 
can  have,  reckoning  from  the  most  depressed 
portions  of  the  surface  near  it.  Now,  in  a 
first-class  Atlantic  steamer,  there  are  two  full 
stories,  so  to  speak,  above  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  and  a  promenade  deck  above  the  upper- 
most one.  This  brings  the  head  of  the  spec- 
tator, when  he  stands  upon  the  promenade 
deck  and  surveys  the  ocean  around  him,  to  the 
height  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  above  the 
surface  of  the  water.  The  elevation  at  which 
he  stands  varies  considerably,  it  is  true,  at 
different  portions  of  the  voyage.  When  the 
ship  first  comes  out  of  port  she  is  very  heavily 
laden,  as  she  has  on  board,  in  addition  to  the 
cargo,  all  the  coal  which  she  is  to  consume  dur- 
ing the  whole  voyage.  This  is  an  enormous 
quantity — enough  for  the  full  lading  of  what 
used  to  be  considered  a  large  ship  in  former 
days.    This  coal  being  gradually  consumed 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  Ill 


during  the  voyage,  the  steamer  is  lightened; 
and  thus  she  swims  lighter  and  lighter  as  she 
proceeds,  being  four  or  five  feet  higher  out  of 
the  water  when  she  reaches  the  end  of  her  voy- 
age than  she  was  at  the  beginning.  Thus  the 
height  at  which  the  passenger  stands  above  the 
waves,  when  walking  on  the  promenade  deck 
of  an  Atlantic  steamer,  varies  somewhat  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  voyage ;  but  it  is 
always,  or  almost  always  so  great  as  to  bring 
his  head  above  the  crests  of  the  waves.  Thus 
he  looks  down,  as  it  were,  upon  the  heaviest 
seas,  and  this  greatly  diminishes  their  ap- 
parent magnitude  and  elevation.  On  the  con- 
trary, to  one  going  to  sea  in  vessels  as  small  as 
those  with  which  Columbus  made  the  voyage 
when  he  discovered  America,  the  loftiest  bil- 
lows would  rise  and  swell,  and  toss  their  foam- 
ing crests  far  above  his  head,  as  he  clung  to 
the  deck  to  gaze  at  them.  They  would  seem 
at  times  ready  to  overwhelm  him  with  the  vast 
and  towering  volumes  of  water  which  they 
raised  around  him.  Then,  when  the  shock 
which  was  produced  by  the  encounter  of  one  of 
them  was  passed,  and  the  ship,  trembling  from 
the  concussion,  rose  buoyantly  over  the  swell, 
being  small  in  comparison  with  the  volume  of 
the  wave,  she  was  lifted  so  high  that  she 
seemed  to  hang  trembling  upon  the  brink  of  it, 
ready  to  plunge  to  certain  destruction  into  the 
yawning  gulf  which  opened  below. 

All  this  is,  however,  now  changed.  The 
mighty  steamer,  twice  as  long,  and  nearly  four 
times  as  massive  as  she  ship,  surpasses  the 


112  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


seas  now,  as  it  were,  in  magnitude  and  momen- 
tum, as  well  as  in  power.  She  not  only  tri- 
umphs over  them  in  the  contest  of  strength, 
but  she  towers  above  and  overtops  them  in 
position.  The  billow  can  now  no  longer  toss 
her  up  so  lightly  to  the  summit  of  its  crest ; 
nor,  when  the  crest  of  it  is  passed,  will  she 
sink  her  so  fearfully  into  the  hollow  of  the  sea. 
The  spectator,  raised  above  all  apparent  dan- 
ger, and  moving  forward  through  the  scene  of 
wild  commotion  with  a  power  greater  far  than 
that  which  the  foaming  surges  can  exert,  sur- 
veys the  scene  around  him  with  wonder  and 
admiration,  it  is  true,  but  without  that  over- 
powering sensation  of  awe  which  it  could  once 
inspire. 

Then  there  is  another  thing.  A  sailing  ves- 
sel, which  is  always  in  a  great  measure  depend- 
ent upon  the  wind,  is  absolutely  at  its  mercy 
in  a  storm.  When  the  gale  increases  beyond  a 
certain  limit,  she  can  no  longer  make  head  at 
all  against  its  fury,  but  must  turn  and  fly — or 
be  driven — wherever  the  fury  of  the  tempest 
may  impel  her.  In  such  cases,  she  goes  bound- 
ing over  the  seas,  away  from  her  course,  to- 
ward rocks,  shoals,  breakers,  or  any  other  dan- 
gers whatever  which  may  lie  in  the  way, 
without  the  least  power  or  possibility  of  resist- 
ance. She  goes  howling  on,  in  such  a  case, 
over  the  wide  waste  of  waters  before  her, 
wholly  unable  to  escape  from  the  dreadful  fury 
of  the  master  who  is  driving  her,  and  with  no 
hope  of  being  released  from  his  hand,  until  he 
chooses,  of  his  own  accord,  to  abate  his  rage. 


( 

}  -  -  -  ^  


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  113 


All  this,  top,  is  now  changed.  This  terrible 
master  has  now  found  his  master  in  the  sea- 
going steamer.  She  turns  not  aside  to  the  right 
hand  or  to  the  left,  for  all  his  power.  Boreas 
may  send  his  gales  from  what  quarter  he 
pleases,  and  urge  them  with  whatever  violence 
he  likes  to  display.  The  steamer  goes  steadily 
on,  pointing  her  unswerving  prow  directly  . 
toward  her  port  of  destination,  and  triumphing 
easily,  and  apparently  without  effort,  over  all 
the  fury  of  the  wind  and  the  shocks  and  con- 
cussions of  the  waves.  The  worst  that  the 
storm  can  do  is  to  retard,  in  some  degree,  the 
swiftness  of  her  motion.  Instead  of  driving 
her,  as  it  would  have  done  a  sailing  vessel,  two 
or  three  hundred  miles  out  of  her  course,  away 
over  the  sea,  it  can  only  reduce  her  speed  in 
her  own  proper  and  determined  direction  to 
eight  miles  an  hour  instead  of  twelve. 

Now,  this  makes  a  great  difference  in  the 
effect  produced  upon  the  mind  by  witnessing 
a  storm  at  sea.  If  the  passenger,  as  he  sur- 
veys the  scene,  feels  that  his  ship,  and  all  that 
it  contains,  has  been  seized  by  the  terrific 
power  which  he  sees  raging  around  him,  and 
that  they  are  all  entirely  at  its  mercy — that  it 
is  sweeping  them  away  over  the  sea,  perhaps  • 
into  the  jaws  of  destruction,  without  any  pos- 
sible power,  on  their  part,  of  resistance  or  es- 
cape— his  mind  is  filled  with  the  most  grand 
and  solemn  emotions.  Such  a  flight  as  this, 
extending  day  after  day,  perhaps  for  five  hun- 
dred miles,  over  a  raging  sea,  is  really  sub- 
lime. 

S  AtXantic 


lU  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


The  Atlantic  steamer  never  flies.  She 
never  yields  in  any  way  to  the  fury  of  the  gale, 
unless  she  gets  disabled.  While  her  machinery 
stands,  she  moves  steadily  forward  in  her 
course,  and  so  far  as  any  idea  of  danger  is  con- 
cerned, the  passengers  in  their  cabins  and  state 
rooms  below  pay  no  more  regard  to  the  storm 
than  a  farmer's  family  do  to  whistling  and 
howling  of  the  wind  among  the  chimneys  of 
their  house,  in  a  blustering  night  on  land. 

So  much  for  the  philosophy  of  a  storm  at  sea, 
as  witnessed  by  the  passengers  on  board  an 
Atlantic  steamer. 

One  night,  when  the  steamer  had  been  some 
time  at  sea,  Rollo  awoke,  and  found  himself 
more  than  usually  unsteady  in  his  berth. 
Sometimes  he  slept  upon  his  couch,  and  some- 
times in  his  berth.  This  night  he  was  in  his 
berth,  and  he  found  himself  rolling  from  side 
to  side  in  it,  very  uneasily.  The  creaking  of 
the  ship,  too,  seemed  to  be  much  more  violent 
and  incessant  than  it  had  been  before.  Rollo 
turned  over  upon  his  other  side,  and  drew  up 
his  knees  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  him- 
self from  rolling  about  quite  so  much,  and  then 
went  to  sleep  again. 

His  sleep,  however,  was  very  much  broken 
and  disturbed,  and  he  was  at  last  suddenly 
awakened  by  a  violent  lurch  of  the  ship,  which 
rolled  him  over  hard  against  the  outer  edge  of 
his  berth,  and  then  back  against  the  inner  edge 
of  it  again.  There  was  a  sort  of  cord,  with 
large  knobs  upon  it,  at  different  distances, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  115 


which  was  hung  like  a  bell  cord  from  the  back 
side  of  the  berth.  RoUo  had  observed  this 
cord  before,  but  he  did  not  knov/  what  it  was 
for.  He  now  however,  discovered  what  it  was 
for,  as,  by  grasping  these  knobs  in  his  hands, 
he  found  that  the  cord  was  an  excellent  thing 
for  him  to  hold  on  by  in  a  heavy  sea.  By 
means  of  this  support,  he  found  that  he  could 
moor  himself,  as  it  were,  quite  well,  and  keep 
himself  steady  when  a  heavy  swell  came. 

He  was  not  long,  however,  at  rest,  for  he 
found  that  his  endeavors  to  go  to  sleep  were 
disturbed  by  a  little  door  that  kept  swinging 
to  and  fro,  in  his  state  room,  as  the  ship  rolled. 
This  was  the  door  of  a  little  cupboard  under 
the  washstand.  When  the  door  swung  open, 
it  would  strike  against  a  board  which  formed 
the  front  side  of  the  couch  that  has  already 
been  described.  Then,  when  the  ship  rolled 
the  other  way,  it  would  come  to,  and  strike 
again  upon  its  frame  and  sill.  Rollo  endured 
this  noise  as  long  as  he  could,  and  then  he  re- 
solved to  get  up  and  shut  the  door.  So  he  put 
his  feet  out  of  his  berth  upon  the  floor — which 
he  could  easily  do,  as  the  berth  that  he  was  in 
was  the  lower  one — and  sat  there  watching  for 
a  moment  when  the  ship  should  be  tolerably 
still.  When  the  right  moment  came,  he  ran 
across  to  the  little  door,  shut  it,  and  crowded 
it  hard  into  its  place ;  then  darted  back  to  his 
berth  again,  getting  there  just  in  time  to  save  ^ 
a  tremendous  lurch  of  the  ship,  which  would 
have  perhaps  pitched  him   across  the  state 


Xl6  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


room,  if  it  had  caught  him  when  he  was  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor. 

Rollo  did  not  have  time  to  fasten  the  little 
door  with  its  lock ;  and  this  seemed  in  fact  un- 
necessary, for  it  shut  so  hard  and  tight  into  its 
place  that  he  was  quite  confident  that  the  fric- 
tion would  hold  it,  and  that  it  would  not  come 
open  again.  To  his  great  surprise,  therefore, 
a  few  minutes  afterward,  he  heard  a  thump- 
ing sound,  and,  on  turning  over  to  see  what 
the  cause  of  it  was,  he  found  that  the  little 
door  was  loose  again,  and  was  swinging  back- 
ward and  forward  as  before.  The  fact  was, 
that,  although  the  door  had  shut  in  tight  at 
the  moment  when  Rollo  had  closed  it,  the 
space  into  which  it  had  been  fitted  had  been 
opened  wider  by  the  springing  of  the  timbers 
and  framework  of  the  ship  at  the  next  roll,  and 
thus  set  the  door  free  again.  So  Rollo  had  to 
get  up  once  more ;  and  this  time  he  locked  the 
door  when  he  had  shut  it,  and  so  made  it 
secure. 

Still,  however,  he  could  not  sleep.  As  soon 
as  he  began  in  the  least  degree  to  lose  con- 
sciousness, so  as  to  relax  his  hold  upon  the 
knobs  of  his  cord,  some  heavy  lurch  of  the  sea 
would  come,  and  roll  him  violently  from  side 
to  side,  and  thus  wnke  him  up  again.  He 
tried  to  brace  himself  up  with  pillows,  but  he 
had  not  pillows  enough.  He  climbed  up  to 
the  upper  berth,  and  brought  down  the  bolster 
and  pillow  that  belonged  there;  and  thus  he 
packed  and  wedged  himself  in.  But  the  in- 
cessant rolling  and  pitching  of  the  ship  kept 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  117 


everything  in  such  a  state  of  motion  that  the 
pillows  soon  worked  loose  again. 

After  making  several  ineffectual  attempts  to 
secure  for  himself  a  quiet  and  fixed  position  in 
his  berth,  Rollo  finally  concluded  to  shift  his 
quarters  to  the  other  side  of  the  state  room 
and  try  the  couch.  The  couch  had  a  sort  of 
side  board,  which  passed  along  the  front  side 
of  it,  and  which  was  higher  somewhat  than  the 
one  forming  the  front  of  the  berth.  This  board 
was  made  movable,  so  that  it  could  be  shifted 
from  the  front  to  the  back  side,  and  vice  versa, 
at  pleasure.  By  putting  this  side  board  back, 
the  place  became  a  sort  of  sofa  or  couch,  and  it 
was  usually  in  this  state  during  the  day;  but 
by  bringing  it  forward,  which  was  done  at 
night,  it  became  a  berth,  and  one  somewhat 
larger  and  more  comfortable  than  the  perma- 
nent berths  on  the  other  side. 

So  Rollo  began  to  make  preparations  for  a 
removal.  He  threw  the  bolster  and  pillows 
across  first,  and  then,  getting  out  of  the  berth, 
and  holding  firmly  to  the  edge  of  it,  he  waited 
for  a  moment's  pause  in  the  motion  of  the 
ship ;  and  then,  when  he  thought  that  the  right 
time  had  come,  he  ran  across.  It  happened, 
however,  that  he  made  a  miscalculation  as  to 
the  time,  for  the  ship  was  then  just  beginning 
to  careen  violently  in  the  direction  in  which 
he  was  going,  and  thus  he  was  pitched  head 
foremost  over  into  the  couch,  where  he  floun- 
dered about  several  minutes  among  the  pillows 
and  bolsters  before  he  could  recover  the  com- 
mand of  himself. 


118  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


At  last  he  lay  down,  and  attempted  to  com- 
pose himself  to  sleep ;  but  he  soon  experienced 
a  new  trouble.  It  happened  that  there  were 
some  cloaks  and  coats  hanging  up  upon  a 
brass  hook  above  him,  and,  as  the  ship  rolled 
from  side  to  side,  the  lower  ends  of  them  were 
continually  swinging  to  and  fro,  directly  over 
Rollo*s  face.  He  tried  for  a  time  to  get  out  of 
the  way  of  them,  by  moving  his  head  one  way 
and  the  other;  but  they  seemed  to  follow  him 
wherever  he  went,  and  so  he  was  obliged  at 
last  to  climb  up  and  take  them  all  off  the  hook, 
and  throw  them  away  into  a  corner.  Then  he 
lay  down  again,  thinking  that  he  should  now 
be  able  to  rest  in  peace. 

At  length,  when  he  became  finally  settled, 
and  began  to  think  at  last  that  perhaps  he 
should  be  able  to  go  to  sleep,  he  thought  that 
he  heard  something  rolling  about  in  Jennie's 
state  room,  and  also,  at  intervals,  a  mewing 
sound.  He  listened.  The  door  between  the 
two  state  rooms  was  always  put  open  a  little 
way  every  night,  and  secured  so  by  the  cham- 
bermaid, so  that  either  of  the  children  might 
call  to  the  other  if  anything  were  wanted.  It 
was  thus  that  Rollo  heard  the  sound  that  came 
from  Jennie's  room.  After  listening  a  mo- 
ment, he  heard  Jennie's  voice  calling  to  him. 

*' Rollo,"  said  she,  **are  you  awake?" 

'*Yes,"  said  Rollo. 

**Then  I  wish  you  would  come  and  help  my 
kitten.  Here  she  is,  shut  up  in  her  cage,  and 
rolling  in  it  all  over  the  room. ' ' 

It  was  even  so.    Jennie  had  put  Tiger  into 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  119 


the  cage  at  night  when  she  went  to  bed,  as  she 
was  accustomed  to  do,  and  then  had  set  the 
cage  in  the  corner  of  the  state  room.  The  vio- 
lent motion  of  the  ship  had  upset  the  cage,  and 
it  was  now  rolling  about  from  one  side  of  the 
state  room  to  the  other — the  poor  kitten  mew- 
ing piteously  all  the  time,  and  wondering 
what  could  be  the  cause  of  the  astonishing 
gyrations  that  she  was  undergoing.  Maria 
was  asleep  all  the  time,  and  heard  nothing  of 
it  all. 

Rollo  said  he  would  get  up  and  help  the  kit- 
ten. So  he  disengaged  himself  from  the  wedg- 
ings  of  pillows  and  bolsters  in  which  he  had 
been  packed,  and,  clinging  all  the  time  to 
something  for  support,  he  made  his  way  into 
Jennie's  state  room.  There  was  a  dim  light 
shining  there,  which  came  through  a  pane  of 
glass  on  one  side  of  the  state  room,  near  the 
door.  This  light  was  not  sufficient  to  enable 
Rollo  to  see  anything  very  distinctly.  He, 
however,  at  length  succeeded,  by  holding  to 
the  side  of  Jennie's  berth  with  one  hand,  while 
he  groped  about  the  floor  with  the  other,  in 
finding  the  cage  and  securing  it. 

**I've  got  it,"  said  Rollo,  holding  it  up  to  the 
light.  '*It  is  the  cage,  and  Tiger  is  in  it. 
Poor  thing !  she  looks  frightened  half  to  death. 
Would  you  let  her  out?" 

*'0,  no,"  said  Jennie.  She '11  only  be  rolled 
about  the  rooms  herself. ' ' 

'*Why,  she  could  hold  on  with  her  claws,  I 
should  think,"  said  Rollo. 

**fTo^"  said  Jennie,  ** keep  her  in  the  cage, 


120  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


and  put  the  cage  in  some  safe  place  where  it 
can't  get  away.** 

So  RoUo  put  the  kitten  into  the  cage,  and  then 
put  the  cage  itself  in  a  narrow  space  between 
the  foot  of  the  couch  and  the  end  of  the  state 
room,  where  he  wedged  it  in  safely  with  a  car- 
pet bag.  Having  done  this,  he  was  just  about 
returning  to  his  place,  when  he  was  dreadfully 
alarmed  at  the  sound  of  a  terrible  concussion 
upon  the  side  of  the  ship,  succeeded  by  a  noise 
as  of  something  breaking  open  in  his  state 
room,  and  a  rush  of  water  which  seemed  to 
come  pouring  in  there  like  a  torrent,  and  fall- 
ing on  the  floor.  Rollo*s  first  thought  was 
that  the  ship  had  sprung  a  leak,  and  that  she 
was  filling  with  water,  and  would  sink  imme- 
diately. Jennie,  too,  was  exceedingly  alarmed ; 
while  Maria,  who  had  been  sound  asleep  all 
this  time,  started  up  suddenly  in  great  terror, 
calling  out, — 

*'Mercyonme!  what's  that?" 

'*I'm  sure  I  don*t  know,"  said  Rollo,  **unless 
the  ship  is  sinking.  *  * 

Maria  put  out  her  hand  and  rung  the  bell 
violently.  In  the  meantime,  the  noise  that 
had  so  alarmed  the  children  ceased,  and  noth- 
ing was  heard  in  Rollo*s  room  but  a  sort  of 
washing  sound,  as  of  water  dashed  to  and  fro 
on  the  floor.  Of  course,  the  excessive  fears 
which  the  children  had  felt  at  first  were  in  a 
great  measure  allayed. 

In  a  moment  the  chambermaid  came  in  with 
a  light  in  her  hand,  and  asked  what  was  the 
matter. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  121 


•* I  don't  know,'*  said  Maria.  ''Something 
or  other  has  happened  in  Rollo's  state  room. 
Please  look  in  and  see. " 

The  chambermaid  went  in,  and  exclaimed, 
as  she  entered, — 

•'What  a  goose!" 

"Who's  a  goose?"  said  Rollo,  following  her. 

"I  am,"  said  the  chambermaid,  "for  forget- 
ting to  screw  up  your  light.  But  go  back ; 
you'll  get  wet,  if  you  come  here." 

Rollo  accordingly  kept  back  in  Jennie's  state 
room,  though  he  advanced  as  near  to  the  door 
as  he  could,  and  looked  in  to  see  what  had  hap- 
pened. He  found  that  his  little  round  window 
had  been  burst  open  by  a  heavy  sea,  and  that 
a  great  quantity  of  water  had  rushed  in.  His 
couch,  which  was  directly  under  the  window, 
was  completely  drenched,  and  so  was  the  floor; 
though  most  of  the  water,  except  that  which 
was  retained  by  the  bedding  and  the  carpet, 
had  run  off  through  some  unseen  opening 
below.  When  Rollo  got  where  he  could  see, 
the  chambermaid  was  busy  screwing  up  his 
window  tight  into  its  place.  It  has  already 
been  explained  that  this  window  was  formed 
of  one  small  and  very  thick  pane  of  glass,  of 
an  oval  form,  and  set  in  an  iron  frame,  which 
was  attached  by  a  hinge  on  one  side,  and  made 
to  be  secured  when  it  was  shut  by  a  strong 
screw  and  clamp  on  the  other. 

"There,"  said  the  chambermaid.  "It  is  safe 
now;  only  you  can't  sleep  upon  the  couch  any 
more,  it  is  so  wet.     You  must  get  into  your 


122  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


berth  again.  I  will  make  you  up  a  new  bed  in 
the  couch  in  the  morning. " 

RoUo  accordingly  clambered  up  into  his 
berth  again,  and  the  chambermaid  left  him  to 
himself.  Presently,  however,  she  came  back 
with  a  dry  pillow  and  bolster  for  him. 

**What  makes  the  ship  pitch  and  toss  about 
so?'*  said  Rollo. 

**Head  wind  and  heavy  sea/*  said  the  cham- 
bermaid; * 'that's  all. 

The  chambermaid  then,  bidding  Rollo  go  to 
sleep,  passed  on  into  Jennie's  state  room,  on 
her  way  to  her  own  place  of  repose.  As  she 
went  by,  Maria  asked  if  there  was  not  a  storm 
coming  on. 

**Yes,  said  the  chambermaid,  **a  terrible 
storm." 

**How  long  will  it  be  before  morning?"  asked 
Jennie. 

**0,  it  is  not  two  bells  yet,"  said  the  cham- 
bermaid. *'And  you  had  better  not  get  up 
when  the  morning  comes.  You'll  only  be 
knocking  about  the  cabins  if  you  do.  PU 
bring  you  some  breakfast  when  it  is  time." 

So  saying,  the  chambermaid  went  away,  and, 
left  the  children  and  Maria  to  themselves. 

Rollo  tried  for  a  long  time  after  this  to  get 
to  sleep,  but  all  was  in  vain.  He  heard  two 
bells  strike,  and  then  three,  and  then  four. 
He  turned  over  first  one  way,  and  then  the 
other;  his  head  aching,  and  his  limbs  cramped 
and  benumbed  from  the  confined  and  uncom- 
fortable positions  in  which  he  was  obliged  to 
keep  them.    In  fact,  when  Jennie  QU  one  occa- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


123 


sion,  just  after  four  bells  struck,  being  very 
restless  and  wakeful  herself,  ventured  to  speak 
to  him  in  a  gentle  tone,  and  ask  him  whether 
he  was  asleep,  he  replied  that  he  was  not;  that 
he  had  been  trying  very  hard,  but  he  could  not 
get  anything  of  him  asleep  except  his  legs. 

,At  length  the  gray  light  of  the  morning 
began  to  shine  in  at  his  little  round  window. 
This  he  was  very  glad  to  see,  although  it  did 
not  promise  any  decided  relief  to  his  misery; 
for  the  storm  still  continued  with  unabated  vie- 
lence.  At  length,  when  breakfast  time  came, 
the  chambermaid  brought  in  some  tea  and  toast 
for  Maria  and  for  both  the  children.  They 
took  it,  and  felt  much  better  for  it — so  much 
so,  that  RoUo  said  he  meant  to  get  up  and  go 
and  see  the  storm. 

*'Well,*'  said  the  chambermaid,  **you  may 
go  if  you  must.  Dress  yourself,  and  go  on  the 
next  deck  above  this,  and  walk  along  the  pas- 
sage way  that  leads  aft,  and  there  you'll  find  a 
door  that  you  can  open  and  look  out.  You'll 
be  safe  there. " 

**Which  way  is  aft?'*  asked  Rollo. 

**That  way,*'  replied  the  chambermaid, 
pointing. 

So  Rollo  got  up,  and  holding  firmly  to  the 
side  of  his  berth  with  one  hand,  and  bracing 
himself  between  his  berth  and  the  side  of  his 
was  stand  cupboard  with  his  knees,  as  the 
ship  lurched  to  and  fro,  he  contrived  to  dress 
himself,  though  he  was  a  long  time  in  accom- 
plishing the  feat.  He  then  told  Jennie  that  he 
was  going  up  stairs  to  look  out  at  some  window 


124  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


or  door,  in  order  to  see  the  storm.  Jennie  did 
not  make  much  reply,  and  so  Rollo  went 
away. 

The  ship  rolled  and  pitched  so  violently  that 
he  could  not  stand  alone  for  an  instant.  If  he 
attempted  to  do  so,  he  would  be  thrown  against 
one  side  or  the  other  of  the  cabin  or  passage- 
way by  the  most  sudden  and  unaccountable 
impulses.  He  finally  succeeded  in  getting  up 
upon  the  main  deck,  where  he  went  into  the 
enclosed  space  which  has  already  been 
described.  This  space  was  closely  shut  up  now 
on  all  sides.  There  were,  however,  two  doors 
which  led  from  it  out  upon  the  deck.  In  order 
to  go  up  upon  the  promenade  deck,  it  was 
necessary  to  go  out  at  one  of  these  doors,  and 
then  ascend  the  promenade  deck  stairway. 
Rollo  had,  however,  no  intention  of  doing  this, 
though  he  thought  that  perhaps  he  might  open 
one  of  the  doors  a  little  and  look  out. 

While  he  was  thinking  of  this,  he  heard  steps 
behind  him  as  of  some  one  coming  up  stairs, 
and  then  a  voice,  saying, — 

* 'Halloo,  Rollo!    Are  you  up  here?" 

Rollo  turned  round  and  saw  Hilbert.  He 
was  clinging  to  the  side  of  the  doorway.  Rollo 
himself  was  upon  one  of  the  settees. 

Just  then  one  of  the  outer  doors  opened,  and 
a  man  came  in.  He  was  an  officer  of  the  ship. 
A  terrible  gust  of  wind  came  in  with  him. 
The  officer  closed  the  door  again  immediately, 
and  seeing  the  boys,  he  said  to  them, — 

*'Well,  boys,  you  are  pretty  good  sailors,  to 
be  about  the  ship  such  weather  as  this." 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  125 


**l'tn  going  up  on  the  promenade  deck/*  said 
Hilbert. 

**No,"  said  the  officer,  **you  had  better  do 
no  such  thing.  You  will  get  pitched  into  the 
lee  scuppers  before  you  know  where  you  are.  * ' 

'*Is  there  any  such  place  where  we  can  look 
out  and  see  the  sea?"  said  RoUo. 

'*Yes, "  replied  the  officer;  *'go  aft,  there, 
along  that  passage  way,  and  you  will  find  a 
door  on  the  lee  quarter  where  you  can  look 
out." 

So  saying,  the  officer  went  away  down  into 
the  cabin. 

Hilbert  did  not  know  what  was  meant  by 
getting  pitched  into  the  lee  scuppers,  and  RoUo 
did  not  know  what  the  lee  quarter  could  be. 
He  however  determined  to  go  in  the  direction 
that  the  man  had  indicated,  and  see  if  he  could 
find  the  door. 

As  for  Hilbert,  he  said  to  RoUo  that  he  was 
not  afraid  of  the  lee  scuppers  or  any  other 
scuppers,  and  he  was  going  up  on  the  promen- 
ade deck.  There  was  an  iron  railing,  he  said, 
that  he  could  cling  to  all  the  way. 

Rollo,  in  the  meantime,  went  along  the  pas- 
sage way,  bracing  his  arms  against  the  sides  of 
it  as  he  advanced.  The  ship  was  rolling  over 
from  side  to  side  so  excessively  that  he  was 
borne  with  his  whole  weight  first  against  one 
side  of  the  passage  way,  and  then  against  the 
other,  so  heavily  that  he  was  every  moment 
obliged  to  stop  and  wait  until  the  ship  came  up 
again  before  he  could  go  on.  At  length  he 
came  into  a  small  room  with  several  door? 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


opening  from  it.  In  the  back  side  of  this  room 
was  the  compartment  where  the  helmsmen 
stood  with  his  wheel.  There  were  several  men 
in  this  place  with  the  helmsmen,  helping  him  to 
control  the  wheel.  Rollo  observed,  too,  that 
there  were  a  number  of  large  rockets  put  away 
in  a  sort  of  frame  in  the  coil  overhead. 

He  went  to  one  of  the  doors  that  was  on  the 
right-hand  side  of  this  room,  and  opened  it  a 
little  way;  but  the  wind  and  rain  came  in  so 
violently  that  he  thought  he  would  go  to  the 
opposite  side  and  try  that  door.  This  idea 
proved  a  very  fortunate  one,  for,  being  now 
on  the  sheltered  side  of  the  ship,  he  could  open 
the  door  and  look  out  without  exposing  himself 
to  the  fury  of  the  storm.  He  gazed  for  a  time 
at  the  raging  fury  of  the  sea  with  a  sentiment 
of  profound  admiration  and  awe.  The  surface 
of  the  ocean  was  covered  with  foam,  and  the 
waves  were  tossing  themselves  up  in  prodigious 
heaps;  the  crests,  as  fast  as  they  were  formed 
being  seized  and  hurled  away  by  the  wind  in 
a  mass  of  driving  spray,  which  went  scudding 
over  the  water  like  drifting  snow  in  a  wintry 
storm  on  land. 

After  Rollo  had  looked  upon  this  scene  until 
he  was  satisfied  he  shut  the  door,  and  returned 
along  the  passage  way,  intending  to  go  down 
and  give  Jennie  an  account  of  his  adventures. 
As  he  advanced  toward  the  little  compartment 
where  the  landing  was,  from  the  stairs,  he 
heard  a  sound  as  of  some  one  in  distress,  and 
on  drawing  near  he  found  Hilbert  coming  in 
perfectly  drenched  with  sea  water.     He  was 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  127 


moaning  and  crying  bitterly,  and,  as  he  stag- 
gered along,  the  water  dripped  from  his  clothes 
in  streams.  Rollo  asked  him  what  was  the 
matter;  but  he  could  not  answer.  Hilbert 
pressed  on  sullenly,  crying  and  groaning  as  he 
went  down  to  find  his  father. 

The  matter  was,  that,  in  attempting  to  go 
up  on  the  promenade  deck,  he  had  unfortun- 
ately taken  the  stairway  on  the  weather  side ; 
and  when  he  had  got  half  way  up,  a  terrible 
sea  struck  the  ship  just  forward  of  the  paddle 
box.  A  portion  of  the  wave,  and  an  immense 
mass  of  spray  dashed  up  on  board  the  ship,  and 
a  quantity  equal  to  several  barrels  of  water 
came  down  upon  the  stairs  where  Hilbert  was 
ascending.  The  poor  fellow  was  almost 
strangled  by  the  shock.  He  however  clung 
manfully  of  the  rope  railing,  and  as  soon  as  he 
recovered  his  breath  he  came  back  into  the 
cabin. 


28  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  passenger's  LOTTERY. 

One  morning,  a  few  days  after  the  storm 
described  in  the  last  chapter,  RoUo  was  sitting 
upon  one  of  the  settees  that  stood  around  the 
sky-light  on  the  promenade  deck,  secured  to 
their  places  by  lashings  of  spun  yarn,  as  has 
already  been  described,  and  was  there  listen- 
ing to  a  conversation  which  was  going  on 
between  two  gentlemen  that  were  seated  on 
the  next  settee.  The  morning  was  very  pleas- 
ant. The  sun  was  shining,  the  air  was  soft 
and  balmy,  and  the  surface  of  the  water  was 
smooth.  There  was  so  little  wind  that  the 
sails  were  all  furled — for,  in  the  case  of  a 
steamer  at  sea,  the  wind,  even  if  it  is  fair,  can- 
not help  to  impel  the  ship  at  all,  unless  it  moves 
faster  than  the  rate  which  the  paddle  wheels 
would  of  themselves  carry  her;  and  if  it  moves 
slower  than  this,  of  course,  the  steamer  would 
by  her  own  progress  outstrip  it,  and  the  sails,  if 
they  were  spread,  would  only  be  pressed  back 
against  the  masts  by  the  onward  progress  of  the 
vessel,  and  thus  her  motion  would  only  be 
retarded  by  them. 

The  steamer,  on  the  day  of  which  we  are 
speaking,  was  going  on  very  smoothly  and 
rapidly  by  the  power  of  her  engines  alone,  and 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  129 

all  the  passengers  were  in  excellent  spirits. 
There  was  quite  a  company  of  them  assembled 
at  a  place  near  one  of  the  paddle  boxes  where 
smoking  was  allowed.  Some  were  seated  upon 
a  settee  that  was  placed  there  against  the  side 
of  the  paddle  box,  and  others  were  standing 
around  them.  They  were  nearly  all  smoking, 
and,  as  they  smoked,  they  were  talking  and 
laughing  very  merrily.  Hilbert  was  among 
them,  and  he  seemed  to  be  listening  very 
eagerly  to  what  they  were  saying.  Rollo  was 
very  strongly  inclined  to  go  out  there,  too,  to 
hear  what  the  men  were  talking  about;  but  he 
was  so  much  interested  in  what  the  gentlemen 
were  saying  who  were  near  him,  that  he  con- 
cluded to  wait  till  they  had  finished  their  con- 
versation, and  then  go. 

The  gentlemen  who  were  near  him  were  talk- 
ing about  the  rockets — the  same  rockets  that 
Rollo  had  seen  "^hen  he  went  back  to  the  stern 
of  the  ship  to  look  out  at  the  sea,  on  the  day  of 
the  storm.  One  of  the  men,  who  had  often 
been  at  sea  before,  and  who  seemed  to  be  well 
acquainted  with  all  nautical  affairs,  said  that 
the  rockets  were  used  to  throw  lines  from  one 
ship  to  another,  or  from  a  ship  to  the  shore,  in 
case  of  wrecks  or  storms.  He  said  that  some- 
times at  sea  a  steamer  came  across  a  wrecked 
vessel,  or  one  that  was  disabled,  while  yet  there 
were  some  seamen  or  passengers  still  alive  on 
board.  These  men  would  generally  be  seen 
clinging  to  the  decks,  or  lashed  to  the  rigging. 
In  such  cases  the  sea  was  often  in  so  frightful 
a  commotion  that  no  boat  could  live  in  it;  and 

9  Atlantic 


130  ROLLO  on  tHE  ATLANTIC. 


there  was  consequently  on  way  to  get  the  unfor- 
tunate mariners  off  their  vessel  but  by  throw- 
ing a  line  across,  and  then  drawing  them  over 
in  some  way  or  other  along  the  line.  He  said 
that  the  sailors  had  a  way  of  making  a  sort  of 
sling,  by  which  a  man  could  be  suspended 
under  such  a  line  with  loops  or  rings,  made  of 
rope,  and  so  adjusted  that  they  would  run 
along  upon  it;  and  that  by  this  means  men 
could  be  drawn  across  from  one  ship  to  another, 
at  seai,  if  there  was  only  a  line  stretched  across 
for  the  rings  to  run  upon. 

Now,  the  rockets  were  used  for  the  purpose 
of  throwing  such  a  line.  A  small  light  line 
was  attached  to  the  stick  of  the  rocket,  and 
then  the  rocket  itself  was  fired,  being  pointed 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  go  directly  over  the 
wrecked  ship.  If  it  was  aimed  correctly,  it 
would  fall  down  so  as  to  carry  the  small  line 
across  the  ship.  Then  the  sailors  on  board  the 
wrecked  vessel  would  seize  it,  by  means  of  it 
would  draw  the  end  of  a  c^trong  line  over,  and 
thus  effect  the  means  of  making  their  escape. 
It  was,  however,  a  very  dreadful  alternative, 
after  all;  for  the  rope  forming  this  fearful 
bridge  would  of  course  be  subject  all  the  time 
to  the  most  violent  jerkings,  from  the  rolling 
and  pitching  of  the  vessels  to  which  the  two 
extremities  of  it  were  attached,  and  the 
unhappy  men  who  had  to  be  drawn  over  by 
means  of  it  would  be  perhaps  repeatedly  struck 
and  overwhelmed  by  the  foaming  surges  on  the 
way. 

While  RoUo  was  listening  to  this  conversa- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  131 


tion,  Hubert's  father  and  another  gentleman 
who  had  been  walking  with  him  up  and  down 
the  deck  came  and  sat  down  on  one  of  the 
settees.  Very  soon,  Hilbert,  seeing  his  father 
sitting  there,  came  eagerly  to  him,  and  said, 
holding  out  his  hand, — 

**Father,  I  want  you  to  give  me  half  a  sov- 
ereign." 

**Half  a  sovereign,"  repeated  his  father; 
**what  do  you  want  of  half  a  sovereign?" 

A  sovereign  is  the  common  gold  coin  of  Eng- 
land. The  value  of  it  is  a  pound,  or  nearly 
five  dollars;  and  half  a  sovereign  is,  of  course, 
in  value  about  equal  to  two  dollars  and  a  half 
of  American  money. 

"I  want  to  get  a  ticket,"  said  Hilbert. 
**Come,  father,  make  haste,"  he  added,  with 
many  impatient  looks  and  gestures,  and  still 
holding  out  his  hand. 

"A  ticket?  what  ticket?"  asked  his  father. 
As  he  asked  these  questions,  he  put  his  hand 
in  his  pocket  and  drew  out  an  elegant  little 
purse. 

**Why,  they  are  going  to  have  a  lottery 
about  the  ship's  run,  to-day,"  repHed  Hilbert, 
"and  I  want  a  ticket.  The  tickets  are  half  a 
sovereign  apiece,  and  the  one  who  gets  the 
right  one  will  have  all  the  half  sovereigns. 
There  will  be  twenty  of  them,  and  that  will 
make  ten  pounds. " 

"Nearly  fifty  dollars, "  said  his  father;  "and 
what  can  you  do  with  all  that  money,  if  you 
get  it?  O,  no,  Hibby ;  I  can't  let  you  have  any 
money  for  that.     And  besides,  these  lotteries, 


132  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


and  the  betting  about  the  run  of  the  ship,  are 
as  bad  as  gambling.  They  are  gambling,  in 
fact." 

**Why,  father,"  said  Hilbert,  "you  bet,  very 
often." 

Mr.  Livingston,  for  that  was  his  father's 
name,  and  his  companion,  the  gentleman  who 
was  sitting  wtih  him,  laughed  at  hearing  this  ^ 
and  the  gentleman  said, — 

*'Ah,  George,  he  has  you  there." 

Even  Hilbert  looked  pleased  at  the  effect 
which  his  rejoinder  had  produced.  In  fact,  he 
considered  his  half  sovereign  as  already  gained. 

**0,  let  him  have  the  half  sovereign,"  con- 
tinued the  gentleman.  ** He'll  find  some  way 
to  spend  the  ten  pounds,  if  he  gets  them,  I'll 
guarantee." 

So  Mt.  Livingston  gave  Hilbert  the  half 
sovereign,  and  he,  receiving  it  with  great  de- 
light, ran  away. 

The  plan  of  the  lottery,  which  the  men  at 
the  paddle  box  were  arranging,  was  this.  In 
order,  however,  that  the  reader  may  under- 
stand it  perfectly,  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  lit- 
tle preliminary  explanation  in  respect  to  the 
mode  of  keeping  what  is  called  the  reckoning 
of  ships  and  steamers  at  sea.  When  a  vessel 
leaves  the  shore  at  New  York,  and  loses  sight 
of  the  Highlands  of  Neversink,  which  is  the 
land  that  remains  longest  in  view,  the  mari- 
ners that  guide  her  have  then  more  than  two 
thousand  miles  to  go,  across  a  stormy  and 
trackless  ocean,  with  nothing  whatever  but 
the  sun  and  stars,  and  their  own  calculation  of 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  133 

theif  motion,  to  guide  them.  Now,  unless  at 
the  end  of  the  voyage  they  should  come  out 
precisely  at  the  lighthouse  or  at  the  harbor 
which  they  aim  at,  they  might  get  into  great 
difficulty  or  danger.  They  might  run  upon 
rocks  where  they  expected  a  port,  or  come 
upon  some  strange  and  unknown  land,  and  be 
entirely  unable  to  determine  which  way  to  turn 
in  order  to  find  their  destined  haven. 

The  navigators  could,  however,  manage  this 
all  very  well,  provided  they  could  be  sure  of 
seeing  the  sun  every  day  at  proper  times,  par- 
ticularly at  noon.  The  sun  passes  through 
different  portions  of  the  sky  every  different 
day  of  the  year,  rising  to  a  higher  point  at 
noon  in  the  summer,  and  to  a  lower  one  in  the 
winter.  The  place  of  the  sun,  too,  in  the  sky, 
is  different  according  as  the  observer  is  more 
to  the  northward  or  southward.  For  inasmuch 
as  the  sun,  to  the  inhabitants  of  northern  lati- 
tudes, always  passes  through  the  southern  part 
of  the  sky,  if  one  person  stands  at  a  place  one 
hundred  or  five  hundred  miles  to  the  south- 
ward of  another,  the  sun  will,  of  course, 
appear  to  be  much  higher  over  his  head  to 
the  former  than  to  the  latter.  The  farther 
north,  therefore,  a  ship  is  at  sea,  the  lower  in 
the  sky,  that  is,  the  farther  down  toward  the 
south,  the  sun  will  be  at  noon. 

Navigators,  then,  at  sea,  always  go  out  upon 
the  deck  at  noon,  if  the  sun  is  out,  with  a  very 
curious  and  complicated  instrument,  called  a 
sextant,  in  their  hands;  and  with  this  instru- 
ment they  measure  exactly  the  distance  from 


134  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


the  sun  at  noon  down  to  the  southern  horizon. 
This  is  called  making  an  observation.  When 
the  observation  is  made,  the  captain  takes  the 
number  of  degrees,  and  minutes,  and  goes 
into  his  state  room ;  and  there,  by  the  help  of 
certain  tables  contained  in  books  which  he 
always  keeps  there  for  the  purpose,  he  makes 
a  calculation,  and  finds  out  the  exact  latitude 
of  the  ship ;  that  is,  where  she  is,  in  respect  to 
north  and  south. 

There  are  other  observations  and  calcula- 
tions by  which  he  determines  the  longitude ; 
that  is,  where  the  ship  is  in  respect  to  east 
and  west.  When  both  these  are  determined 
he  can  find  the  precise  place  on  the  chart 
where  the  vessel  is,  and  so — inasmuch  as  he 
had  ascertained  by  the  same  means  where  she 
was  the  day  before — he  can  easily  calculate 
how  far  she  has  come  during  the  twenty-four 
hours  between  one  noon  and  another.  These 
calculations  are  always  made  at  noon,  because 
that  is  the  time  for  making  the  observations 
on  the  sun.  It  takes  about  an  hour  to  make 
the  calculations.  The  passengers  on  board 
the  ship  during  this  interval  are  generally  full 
of  interest  and  curiosity  to  know  the  result. 
They  come  out  from  their  lunch  at  half  past 
twelve,  and  then  they  wait  the  remaining  half 
hour  with  great  impatience.  They  are  eager 
to  know  how  far  they  have  advanced  on  their 
voyage  since  noon  of  the  day  before. 

In  order  to  let  the  passengers  know  the  re- 
sult, when  it  is  determined,  the  captain  puts 
up  a  written  notice,  thus:—' 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  135 


Latitude,  44°  26". 
Longitude,  16^  31*^. 
Distance,  270. 

The  passengers,  on  seeing  this  notice,  which 
is  called  a  bulletin,  know  at  once,  from  the 
first  two  items,  whereabout  on  the  ocean  they 
are ;  and  from  the  last  thev  learn  that  the  dis- 
tance  which  the  ship  has  come  since  the  day 
before  is  270  miles. 

This  plan  of  finding  out  the  ship's  place 
every  day,  and  of  ascertaining  the  distance 
which  she  has  sailed  since  the  day  before, 
would  be  perfectly  successful,  and  amply  suffi- 
cient for  all  the  purposes  required,  if  the  sun 
could  always  be  seen  when  the  hour  arrives 
for  making  the  observation ;  but  this  is  not  the 
fact.  The  sky  is  often  obscured  by  clouds  for 
many  days  in  succession;  and,  in  fact,  it 
sometimes  happens  that  the  captain  has 
scarcely  an  opportunity  to  get  a  good  observa- 
tion during  the  whole  voyage.  There  is, 
therefore,  another  way  by  which  the  navigator 
can  determine  where  the  ship  is,  and  how  fast 
she  gets  along  on  her  voyage. 

This  second  method  consists  of  actually 
measuring  the  progress  of  the  ship  through 
the  water,  by  an  instrument  called  the  log  and 
line.  The  log — which,  however,  is  not  any 
log  at  all,  but  only  a  small  piece  of  board, 
loaded  at  one  edge  so  as  to  float  upright  in  the 
water — has  a  long  line  attached  to  it,  which 
line  is  wound  upon  a  light  windlass  called  a 
reel.    The  line,  except  a  small  portion  of  it  at 


136  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


the  beginning,  is  marked  off  into  lengths  by 
small  knots  made^  in  it  at  regular  intervals. 
There  are  little  rags  of  different  forms  and 
colors  tied  into  these  knots,  so  that  they  may 
easily  be  seen,  and  may  also  be  distinguished 
one  from  the  other. 

When  the  time  comes  for  performing  the  op- 
eration of  heaving  the  log,  as  they  call  it,  the 
men  appointed  for  the  purpose  bring  the  log 
and  the  reel  ' to  the  stern  of  the  ship.  One 
man  holds  the  log,  and  another  man  the  reel. 
There  are  two  handles,  one  at  each  end  of  the 
reel,  by  which  the  man  who  serves  it  can  hold 
it  up  over  his  head,  and  let  the  line  run  off 
from  it.  Besides  the  two  men  who  hold  the 
log  and  the  reel,  there  is  a  third,  who  has  a 
minute  glass  in  his  hand.  The  minute  glass 
is  like  an  hour  glass,  only  there  is  but  just 
sand  enough  in  it  to  run  a  minute.  The  man 
who  has  the  minute  glass  holds  it  upon  its 
side  at  first,  so  as  not  to  set  the  sand  to  run- 
ning until  all  is  ready. 

At  length  the  man  who  holds  the  log  throws 
it  over  into  the  water,  and  the  ship,  sailing 
onward  all  the  time,  leaves  it  there  floating 
edge  upward.  The  man  who  holds  the  reel 
lifts  it  up  high,  so  that  the  line  can  run  off 
easily  as  the  ship  moves  on.  As  soon  as  the 
first  rag  runs  off,  which  denotes  the  beginning 
of  the  marked  point  of  the  line,  he  calls  out 
suddenly, — 

**Turn!" 

This  is  the  command  to  the  man  who  holds 
the  minute  glass  to  hold  it  so  as  to  set  the 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  137 


sand  to  running.  He  accordingly  instantly 
changes  the  position  of  the  glass,  and  holds  it 
perpendicularly,  and  immediately  sets  himself 
to  watching  the  running  out  of  the  sand. 
The  instant  it  is  gone,  he  calls  out, — 
'•Stop!" 

The  man  who  is  holding  the  reel,  and  an- 
other who  stands  by  ready  to  help  him,  in- 
stantly stop  the  line,  and  begin  to  draw  it  in. 
They  observe  how  many  knots  have  run  out, 
and  they  know  from  this  how  many  miles  an 
hour  the  ship  is  going.  Each  knot  goes  for  a 
mile. 

They  do  not  have  to  count  the  knots  that 
have  run  out.  They  can  always  determine, 
by  the  form  and  color  of  the  last  one  that 
passes,  what  knot  it  is.  One  of  the  men  goes 
immediately  and  reports  to  the  captain  that 
the  ship  is  going  so  many  knots,  and  the  cap- 
tain makes  a  record  of  it.  The  other  men  at 
once  begin  to  draw  in  the  line,  which  brings 
the  log  in  also  at  the  end  of  it.  This  line 
comes  in  very  hard,  for  the  friction  of  so  long 
a  cord,  dragged  so  swiftly  through  the  water, 
is  very  great.  It  generally  takes  for  or  five 
men  to  pull  the  line  in.  These  men  walk 
along  the  deck,  one  behind  the  other,  with  the 
line  over  their  shoulders ;  and  at  first  they  have 
to  tug  very  hard.  The  reel  man  winds  the 
line  upon  the  reel  as  fast  as  they  draw  it  in. 
It  comes  in  more  and  more  easily  as  the  part 
that  is  in  the  water  grows  shorter;  and  at 
length  the  log  itself  is  soon  skipping  through 
the  foam  in  the  wake  of  the  ship,  until  it 


138  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


comes  up  out  of  the  water  and  is  taken  on 
board. 

They  heave  the  log  every  two  hours, — that 
is,  twelve  times  for  every  twenty-four  hours, 
— and  from  the  reports  which  the  captain  re- 
ceives of  the  results  of  these  trials,  it  is  easy 
for  him  to  calculate  how  far  the  ship  has  come 
during  the  whole  period.  As  he  knows,  too, 
exactly  how  far  the  pilot  has  been  steering  by 
the  compass  all  this  time,  he  has  both  the 
direction  in  which  the  ship  has  been  sailing, 
and  the  distance  to  which  she  has  come ;  and 
of  course  from  these  data  he  can  calculate 
where  she  must  now  be.  This  mode  of  deter^ 
mining  the  ship's  place  is  called  by  the 
reckoning.  The  other  is  called  by  observa- 
tion. 

The  intelligent  and  reflecting  boy  who  has 
carefully  read  and  understood  the  preceding 
explanations  will  perceive  that  the  two  oper- 
ations which  we  have  been  describing  are  in 
some  sense  the  reverse  of  each  other.  By 
the  former,  the  navigator  ascertains  by  his 
measurements  where  the  ship  actually  is  to- 
day, and  then  calculates  from  that  how  far, 
and  in  what  direction,  she  has  come  since  yes- 
terday. Whereas,  by  the  latter  method,  his 
measurements  determine  directly  how  far, 
and  in  what  direction,  the  ship  has  come ;  and 
then  he  calculates  from  these  where  she  now 
is.  Each  method  has  its  advantages.  The 
former,  that  by  observation,  is  the  most  sure 
and  exact ;  but  then  it  is  not  always  practic- 
able, for  it  may  be  cloudy.    On  the  other  hand, 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


139 


the  latter — that  is,  by  the  reckoning — never 
fails,  for  the  log  can  always  be  thrown,  be  the 
weather  what  it  may ;  but  it  cannot  be  fully 
relied  upon,  on  account  of  the  currents  in  the 
water  and  the  drifting  of  the  vessel.  Conse- 
quently, on  board  all  ships  they  keep  the  reck- 
oning regularly  every  day.  Then,  if  they  get 
a  good  observation,  they  rely  upon  that.  If 
they  do  not,  they  go  by  the  reckoning. 

We  now  return  to  the  story.  And  here,  I 
suppose,  is  the  place  where  those  sagacious 
children,  who,  when  they  are  reading  a  book 
in  which  entertainment  and  instruction  are 
combined,  always  skip  all  the  instruction,  and 
read  only  the  story,  will  begin  to  read  again, 
after  having  turned  over  the  leaves  of  this 
chapter  thus  far,  seeing  they  contain  only  ex- 
planations of  the  mode  of  navigating  a  ship, 
and  saying  nothing  about  Hilbert  and  Rollo. 
Now,  before  going  any  farther,  I  wish  to 
warn  all  such  readers,  that  they  will  not  be 
able  to  comprehend  at  all  clearly  the  compli- 
cated difficulties  which  Hilbert  and  the  others 
got  into  in  respect  to  the  lottery  without  un- 
derstanding all  that  has  been  explained  in  the 
preceding  pages  of  this  chapter.  I  advise 
them,  therefore,  if  they  have  skipped  any  of 
it,  to  go  back  and  read  it  all,  and  to  read  it 
slowly  too,  and  with  the  utmost  attention. 
And  I  advise  them,  moreover,  if  they  do  not 
perfectly  understand  it  all,  to  ask  some  older 
person  to  read  it  over  with  them  and  explain  it 
to  them.  If  they  are  not  willing  to  do  this, 
but  insist  on  skipping  the  first  part  of  the 


140  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

chapter,  I  advise  them  to  make  complete  work 
of  it,  and  skip  the  last  half  too ;  for  they  cer- 
tainly will  not  understand  it. 

When  Hilbert  went  back  to  the  paddle  box 
with  his  half  sovereign,  it  was  about  eleven 
o'clock.  The  observation  was  to  be  made  at 
twelve ;  and  the  results,  both  in  respect  to  the 
observation  and  reckoning,  were  to  be  calcu- 
lated immediately  afterward.  The  lottery 
which  the  men  were  making  related  to  the 
number  of  miles  which  the  ship  would  have 
made  during  the  twenty-four  hours.  The  men 
were  just  making  up  the  list  of  subscribers  to 
the  tickets  when  Hilbert  went  up  to  them. 
He  gave  his  half  sovereign  to  the  man  who 
had  the  list.  This  man,  whom  they  called  the 
Colonel,  took  the  money,  saying,  ** That's 
right,  my  lad,"  and  put  it  in  a  little  leather 
purse  with  the  other  half  sovereigns. 

''What's  your  name.  Bob?"  said  he. 
•   * 'Livingston, "  said  Hilbert. 

•'Bobby  Livingston,"  said  the  Colonel,  writ- 
ing down  the  name  on  his  list. 

"No,"  said  Hilbert,  contemptuously,  "not 
Bobby  Livingston.    Hilbert  Livingston." 

"O,  never  mind,"  said  the  Colonel;  "it's  all 
the  same  thing.    Bobby  means  boy. " 

The  plan  of  the  lottery  was  this:  It  was 
generally  supposed  that  the  ship's  run  would 
be  about  270  miles;  and  it  was  considered 
quite  certain,  as  has  already  been  stated,  that 
it  would  not  be  more  than  280,  nor  less  than 
260.  So  they  made  twenty  tickets,  by  cutting 
five  of  the  Colonel's  visiting  cards  into  quar- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  141 


ters,  which  tickets  were  to  represent  all  the 
numbers  from  261  to  280,  inclusive.  They 
wrote  the  numbers  upon  these  cards,  omitting, 
however,  the  first  figure,  namely,  the  2,  in 
order  to  save  time ;  for  rs  that  figure  came  in 
all  the  numbers,  it  was  considered  unneces- 
sary to  write  it.  When  the  numbers  were  writ- 
ten thus  upon  the  card,  the  cards  themselves 
were  all  put  into  a  cap  and  shaken  up,  and 
then  every  one  who  had  paid  a  half  sovereign 
drew  out  one,  the  colonel  holding  the  hat  up 
high  all  the  time,  so  that  no  one  could  see 
which  number  he  drew.  This  operation  was 
performed  in  the  midst  of  jokes  and  gibes  and 
loud  shouts  of  laughter,  which  made  the 
whole  scene  a  very  merry  one.  When  Hil- 
bert  came  to  draw,  the  merriment  was  re- 
doubled. Some  called  on  the  Colonel  to  hold 
down  the  cap  lower,  so  that  Bob  could  reach 
it.  Others  said  that  he  was  sure  to  get  the 
lucky  number,  and  that  there  was  no  chance 
at  all  for  the  rest  of  them.  Others,  still,  were 
asking  him  what  he  would  take  for  his  ticket, 
or  for  half  of  it,  quarter  of  it,  and  so  on.  Hil- 
bert  was  half  pleased  and  half  ashamed  at 
being  the  object  of  so  much  coarse  notoriety; 
while  Rollo,  who  had  drawn  up  toward  the 
place,  and  was  looking  on  from  a  safe  distance 
at  the  proceedings  that  were  going  on,  was 
very  glad  that  he  was  not  in  Hilbert's  place. 

The  ticket  that  Hilbert  drew  was  marked 
67.  It  denoted,  of  course,  the  number  267; 
and  that,  being  pretty  near  to  the  number  of 
miles  which  it  was  thought  the  ship  would 


m  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

probably  make,  was  considered  quite  a  valu- 
able ticket.  The  owners  of  the  several 
tickets,  as  soon  as  the  drawing  was  completed, 
began  to  compare  them  and  talk  about  them, 
and  to  propose  bargains  to  one  another  for 
buying  and  selling  them,  or  exchanging  them. 
In  these  negotiations  each  man  was  endeavor- 
ing to  outwit  and  circumvent  his  friend,  in 
hopes  of  buying  his  ticket  for  a  moderate  sum, 
and  drawing  the  whole  prize  with  it.  Others 
were  engaged  in  betting  on  particular  tickets. 
These  bets,  when  they  were  made,  they  re- 
corded in  little  memorandum  books  kept  for 
the  purpose.  In  fact,  a  very  noisy  and  tumul- 
tuous scene  of  bargaining,  and  betting,  and 
barter  ensued. 

Hilbert  was  very  much  pleased  with  his 
ticket.  He  went  to  show  it  to  Rollo.  He  said 
he  verily  believed  that  he  had  got  the  exact 
ticket  to  draw  the  prize.  He  did  not  think 
the  ship  would  go  quite  270  miles. 

**And  if  she  does  not,'*  said  he,  **and  should 
happen  to  go  only  267  miles,  then  I  shall  have 
ten  pounds;  and  that  is  almost  fifty  dollars. ' * 

So  saying,  Hilbert  began  to  caper  about  the 
deck  in  the  exuberance  of  his  joy. 

His  antics  were,  however,  suddenly  inter- 
rupted by  the  Colonel,  who  just  then  came  up 
to  him  and  asked  to  see  his  ticket.  Hilbert 
held  it  up  so  that  the  Colonel  could  see  the 
number  upon  it. 

Sixty-seven,"  said  the  Colonel.  *' That  is 
not  worth  much.  Nobody  thinks  she'll  go 
less  than  270.  However,**  he  added,  in  a  care- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  143 


less  tone,  give  you  twelve  shillings  for  it. 
That  is  two  shillings  over  what  you  paid  for  it 
— nearly  half  a  dollar.  You'd  better  make 
sure  of  half  a  dollar  than  run  the  risk  of  losing 
everything  on  such  a  poor  ticket  as  that.  ** 

** Would  you?'*  said  Hilbert,  turning  to  RoUo. 

**I  don't  know,"  replied  Rollo,  shaking  his 
head.    **1  don't  know  anything  about  it." 

"No,"  said  Hilbert,  turning  to  the  Colonel 
again;  **I  believe  I'll  keep  my  ticket,  and 
take  my  chance." 

The  Colonel  said,  *'Very  well;  just  as  you 
please;"  and  then  went  away.  Hilbert  had, 
after  this,  several  other  offers,  all  of  which  he 
declined ;  and  in  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
the  Colonel  met  him  again,  as  if  accidentally, 
and  began  to  talk  about  his  ticket.  He  said 
that  all  the  tickets  under  270  were  selling  at  a 
low  price,  as  almost  everybody  believed  that 
the  ship's  run  would  be  more  than  that;  but 
still,  he  said,  he  would  give  a  pound  for  Hil- 
bert's  ticket,  if  he  wished  to  sell  it.  **Thus," 
he  said,  '^you'll  get  back  the  half  sovereign 
you  paid,  and  another  half  sovereign  besides, 
and  make  sure  of  it. " 

But  the  more  the  people  seemed  to  wish  to 
buy  Hubert's  ticket,  the  less  inclined  he  was 
to  part  with  it.  So  he  refused  the  Colonel's 
offer,  and  put  the  card  safely  away  in  his  wal- 
let. In  one  sense  he  was  right  in  refusing  to 
sell  his  chance ;  for  as  the  whole  business  of 
making  such  a  lottery,  and  buying  and  selling 
the  tickets  afterward,  and  betting  on  the  result, 
is  wrong,  the  less  one  does  about  it  the  better. 


144  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


Every  new  transaction  arising  out  of  it  is  a  new 
sin.  It  could  easily  be  shown,  by  reasoning  on 
the  philosophy  of  the  thing,  why  it  is  wrong, 
if  there  were  time  and  space  for  it  here.  But 
this  is  not  necessary,  as  every  man  has  a  feel- 
ing in  his  own  conscience  that  there  is  a  wrong 
in  such  transactions.  It  is  only  bad  charac- 
ters, in  general,  that  seek  such  amusements. 
When  others  adventure  in  them  a  little,  they 
make  apologies  for  it.  They  say  they  are  not 
in  the  habit  of  betting,  or  of  venturing  in  lot- 
teries, or  that  they  don't  approve  of  it — but 
will  do  it  this  once.  Then,  when  people  lose 
their  money,  the  chagrin  which  they  feel  is 
always  deepened  and  embittered  by  remorse 
and  self-condemnation;  while  the  pleasure 
which  those  feel  who  gain  is  greatly  marred  by 
a  sort  of  guilty  feeling,  which  they  cannot 
shake  off,  at  having  taking  the  money  of  their 
friends  and  companions  by  such  means.  All 
these  indications,  and  many  others  which 
might  be  pointed  out,  show  that  there  is  a 
deep-seated  and  permanent  instinct  in  the 
human  heart  which  condemns  such  things ;  and 
nobody  can  engage  in  them  without  doing  vio- 
lence to  this  instinct,  and  thus  committing  a 
known  wrong. 

In  regard  to  most  of  the  men  who  were 
engaged  in  the  lottery,  they  had  so  often  done 
such  things  before  that  their  consciences  had 
become  pretty  well  seared  and  hardened. 
There  was  one  man,  however,  who  decided  to 
take  a  ticket  against  considerable  opposition 
that  was  made  to  it  by  the  moral  sentiments  of 


1 


ROLLO  0^  THE  ATLANTIC.  145 


his  heart.  This  was  Maria's  brother.  He  had 
been  confined  to  his  berth  most  of  the  voyage, 
but  was  now  better;  and  he  had  been  walking 
up  and  down  the  deck  with  a  friend.  He 
looked  pale  and  dejected,  however,  and  seemed 
still  quite  feeble. 

His  friend,  whom  he  called  Charles,  seeing 
that  they  were  going  on  with  a  lottery  near 
the  paddle  boxes,  proposed  that  they  should 
both  go  and  buy  tickets. 

*'Come,*'  said  he,  **Chauncy,  that  will  amuse 
you.*' 

**0,  no,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy^ 

*'Yes,  come,**  said  Charles.  ** Besides,  we 
ought  to  do  our  part  to  assist  in  entertaining 
one  another.*' 

So  saying,  Charles  led  Mr.  Chauncy  along, 
tod  partly  by  persuasion  and  partly  by  a  little 
gentle  force,  he  made  him  take  out  his  purse 
and  produce  a  half  sovereign,  too.  He  also 
subscribed  himself,  and  then  drew  both  the 
tickets.  He  gave  one  of  them  to  Mr.  Chauncy, 
and  the  other  he  kept  himself ;  and  then  the 
two  friends  walked  away.  Mr.  Chauncy 's 
ticket  was  66,  the  number  immediately  below 
that  which  Hilbert  had  drawn. 

Mr.  Chauncy,  being  now  tired  of  walking, 
went  to  sit  down  upon  one  of  the  settees  next 
to  where  Hilbert  and  Rollo  had  just  gone  to 
take  a  seat.  Mr.  Chauncy  was  next  to  Hilbert. 
He  immediately  began  to  talk  with  Hilbert 
about  the  lottery. 

**Have  you  got  a  ticket  in  this  lottery?**  he 
asked. 

10  Atlantic 


V 


146  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


**Yes,'*  said  Hilbert,  **mine  is  267.  What  is 
yours?** 

don't  know/'  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  **I  did 
not  observe.*'  As  he  said  this,  however,  he 
took  his  ticket  out  of  his  pocket,  and  said, 
reading  it,  **  Ninety-nine.  ** 

He  was  holding  it  wrong  side  upward,  and 
so  it  read  99. 

*'Ho!*'  said  Hilbert,  **that  will  not  get  the 
prize.  We  shall  not  go  299  miles.  I  would 
not  exchange  mine  for  yours  on  any  account." 

**No,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  **nor  would  I  ex- 
change mine  for  yours." 

'•Why?**  said  Hilbert.  **Do  you  think  there 
is  any  chance  of  the  ship's  making  299?" 

*'No,"  replied  Mr.  Chauncy,  **and  that  is 
the  very  reason  I  like  my  ticket.  If  I  had 
yours,  I  should  be  afraid  I  might  get  the 
prize." 

•'Afraid?*'  repeated  Hilbert. 

•'Yes,*'  said  Mr.  Chauncy. 

•'Why  should  you  be  afraid?*'  asked  Hilbert, 
much  surprised. 

•'Because,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  "I  should  not 
know  what  to  do  with  the  money.  I  would 
not  put  it  in  my  purse ;  for  I  don*t  let  anything 
go  in  there  but  honest  money.  I  don*t  know 
who  I  could  give  it  to.  Besides,  I  should  not 
like  to  ask  anybody  to  take  what  I  should  be 
ashamed  to  keep  myself.  I  should  really  be 
in  a  very  awkward  situation.  * ' 

As  he  said  this,  Mr.  Chauncy  held  his  ticket 
between  his  thumb  and  finger,  and  looked  at 
the  number.  Neither  he  nor  Hilbert  suspected 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  14t 


for  a  moment  that  there  was  any  mistake  in 
reading  it ;  for,  not  having  paid  any  attention 
to  the  scheme,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  lottery, 
they  did  not  know  how  high  the  numbers  went. 

**  There  is  a  possibility  that  I  may  get  it, 
after  all,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy  at  length,  mus- 
ing. '*We  have  had  fine  weather,  and  have 
been  coming  on  fast.  The  best  thing  for  me 
to  do  is  to  get  rid  of  the  ticket  Have  you  got 
a  ticket,  Rollo.^**  said  he,  turning  to  Rollo. 

•'No,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

*'I  have  a  great  mind  to  give  it  to  you, 
then." 

'*No,  sir,"  said  Rollo;  **I  would  rather  not 
have  it." 

**That  is  right,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy.  like 
you  the  better  for  that.  I  know  what  I  will 
do  with  it.  Do  you  remember  an  Irish  woman 
that  you  see  sitting  on  the  forward  deck  some- 
times with  her  two  children?" 

**Yes,"  said  Rollo,  **she  is  there  now." 

**Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  carry  this 
to  her,  and  tell  her  it  is  a  ticket  in  a  lottery, 
and  it  may  possibly  draw  a  prize.  Have  you 
any  conscientious  scruples  about  doing  that?" 

"No,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"Then  take  the  ticket  and  go,"  said  Mr. 
Chauncy.  "Tell  her  she  had  better  sell  the 
ticket  for  two  shillings,  if  she  gets  a  chance. 
There  may  be  somebody  among  the  gamblers 
that  will  buy  it." 

So  Rollo  took  the  ticket  and  carried  it  to  the 
Irish  woman.  She  was  a  woman  who  was  re- 
turning to  Ireland  as  a  deck  passenger.  She 


148  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


was  quite  poor.  When  Rollo  tendered  her  the 
ticket,  she  was,  at  first,  much  surprised.  Rollo 
explained  the  case  fully  to  her,  and  concluded 
by  repeating  Mr.  Chauncy's  advice — that  she 
should  sell  the  ticket,  if  she  could  get  a  chance 
to  sell  it  for  as  much  as  two  shillings.  The 
woman,  having  been  at  sea  before,  understood 
something  about  such  lotteries,  and  seemed  to 
be  quite  pleased  to  get  a  ticket.  She  asked 
Rollo  to  tell  such  gentleman  as  he  might 
meet  that  she  had  99  to  sell  for  two  shillings. 
This,  however,  Rollo  did  not  like  to  do,  and  so 
he  simply  returned  to  the  settee  and  reported 
to.  Mr.  Chauncy  that  he  had  given  the  woman 
the  ticket  and  delivered  the  message. 

Mr.  Chauncy  said  he  was  very  much  obliged 
to  him;  and  then,  rising  from  his  seat,  he 
walked  slowly  away,  and  descended  into  the 
cabin. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  149 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  END  OF  THE  LOTTERY. 

In  almost  all  cases  of  betting  and  lotteries 
the  operation  of  the  system  is,  that  certain  per- 
sons, called  the  knowing  ones,  contrive  to  man- 
age the  business  in  such  a  way,  by  secret 
manoeuvres  and  intrigues,  as  to  make  the  re- 
sult turn  out  to  their  advantage,  at  the  expense 
of  those  parties  concerned  who  are  ignorant 
and  inexperienced,  or,  as  they  term  it, 
green. "  Very  deep  plans  were  laid  for  ac- 
complishing this  object  in  respect  to  the  lottery 
described  in  the  last  chapter;  though,  as  it 
happened  in  this  case,  they  were  fortunately 
frustrated. 

The  principal  of  these  manoeuvres  were  the 
work  of  the  man  whom  they  called  the  Colonel. 
He  had  formed  the  plan,  with  another  man,  of 
secretly  watching  the  operation  of  heaving  the 
log  every  time  it  was  performed,  and  making 
a  note  of  the  result.  By  doing  this,  he  thought 
he  could  calculate  very  nearly  how  many  miles 
the  ship  would  make,  while  all  the  other  pas- 
sengers would  have  nothing  to  guide  them  but 
such  general  estimates  as  they  could  make 
from  recollection.  He  accordingly  arranged  it 
with  his  confederates  that  one  or  the  other  of 
them  should  be  on  deck  whenever  the  men 


V 


150  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


were  called  to  heave  the  log,  and,  without 
appearing  to  pay  any  particular  attention  to 
the  operation,  carefully  to  obtain  the  result, 
and  make  a  memorandum  of  it.  This  plan  was 
sufficient  for  the  daytime.  For  the  night — in- 
asmuch as  it  might  excite  suspicion  for  them 
to  be  up  at  unseasonable  hours  to  watch  tho 
operation — they  resorted  to  another  method. 
They  bribed  one  of  the  seamen  of  each  watch 
to  find  out  the  result  of  each  trial  during  his 
watch,  and  to  give  them  the  answers  in  the 
morning.  When  the  last  time  for  the  heaving 
the  log,  previous  to  making  up  the  accounts  for 
the  day,  came,  which  was  at  ten  o'clock,  they 
took  that  result,  and  then,  shutting  themselves 
up  in  their  state  room,  they  made  a  calcula- 
tion, and  ascertained  pretty  certainly,  as  they 
thought,  that  the  distance  would  be  about  267 
miles.  It  might  possibly  be  266,  or  268;  but 
they  thought  that  they  were  sure  that  it  would 
be  one  of  these  three  numbers.  The  next 
thing  was  to  circulate  statements,  and  to  ex- 
press opinions  in  private  conversation  here  and 
there  among  the  passengers,  in  a  careless  sort 
of  way,  to  produce  a  general  impression  that 
the  rate  of  the  ship  would  not  be  less  than  270 
miles.  This  was  to  lead  the  owners  of  the 
tickets,  and  the  bettors  generally,  not  to  attach 
a  high  value  to  the  number  below  270.  By 
doing  this,  they  expected  to  depress  the  value 
of  these  tickets  in  the  general  estimation,  so 
that  they  could  buy  them  easily.  They  calcu- 
lated that,  if  their  plans  succeeded,  they  could 
buy  266,  267  and  268  for  about  a  sovereign 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  151 


apiece — the  holders  of  them  being  made  to  sup- 
pose, by  their  manoeuvres,  that  those  numbers 
would  have  very  little  chance  of  obtaining  the 
prize. 

The  plan  was  very  deeply  laid,  and  very  skil- 
fully executed ;  and  the  men  were  so  far  suc- 
cessful in  their  efforts  that  they  did  produce  a 
general  impression  that  the  ship's  run  could 
not  be  below  270.  They  also  bought  ticket 
268,  though  they  had  to  give  two  sovereigns  for 
it.  It  has  already  been  shown  how  their  at- 
tempts to  get  possession  of  267  failed,  by  Hil- 
bert's  refusal  to  sell  it.  They,  of  course,  also 
failed  to  get  266,  for  that  ticket  was  not  to  be 
found.  They  could  not  make  any  very  open 
and  public  inquiries  for  it,  as  it  was  necessary 
that  everything  which  they  did  should  be  per- 
formed in  a  verv  unconcerned  and  careless 
manner.  They,  however,  made  repeated  in- 
quiries privately  for  this  ticket,  but  could  not 
get  any  tidings  of  it.  A  certain  sailor  told 
some  of  the  bettors  that  an  Irish  woman  on 
the  forward  deck  had  a  ticket  which  she  offered 
to  sell  for  two  shillings ;  but  when,  on  being 
asked  what  the  number  was,  he  answered  99, 
they  laughed  at  him,  supposing  that  somebody 
had  been  putting  a  hoax  upon  the  poor  Irish 
woman,  as  there  was  no  such  number  as  that 
in  the  lottery. 

Besides  the  manoeuvres  of  these  two  confed- 
erates, there  was  another  man  who  was  devis- 
ing a  cunning  scheme  for  obtaining  the  prize. 
This  was  the  mate  of  a  merchant  ship  that  had 
put  into  the  port  of  New  York  in  a  damaged 


152  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


condition,  and  had  there  been  sold.  The  mate, 
being  thus  left  without  a  vessel,  was  now  re- 
turning as  a  passenger  in  the  steamer,  to  Scot- 
land, where  he  belonged. 

This  man  was  accustomed  to  navigation; 
and  he  had  the  necessary  books  for  making 
the  computations  in  his  trunk.  He  conceived 
the  idea  of  being  present  on  deck  at  twelve 
o'clock,  when  the  captain  made  his  observa- 
tion, and  of  learning  from  him,  as  it  were  acci- 
dentally, what  the  sun's  altitude  was  observed 
to  be.  This  he  could  very  easily  do,  for  it  was 
customary  to  have  the  observation  made  not 
only  by  the  captain,  but  one  or  two  of  the 
chief  officers  of  the  ship  also,  at  the  same  time, 
who  are  all  always  provided  with  sextants  for 
the  purpose.  The  results,  when  obtained,  are 
compared  together,  to  see  if  they  agree— each 
observer  telling  the  others  what  altitude  he 
obtains.  Thus  they  are  more  sure  of  getting 
the  result  correctly.  Besides,  it  is  important 
that  these  officers  should  have  practice,  so  that 
they  may  be  able  to  take  the  observation  when 
the  captain  is  sick,  or  when  they  come  to  com- 
mand ships  themselves. 

Now,  the  mate  above  referred  to  thought 
that,  by  standing  near  the  captain  and  his 
officers  when  they  made  the  observations,  he 
could  overhear  them  in  comparing  their  re- 
sults, and  then  that  he  could  go  down  into  his 
state  room  immediately;  and  that  there,  by 
working  very  diligently,  he  could  ascertain  the 
run  of  the  ship  before  it  should  be  reported  on 
the  captain's  bulletin,  and  so  know  beforehand 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  153 


what  ticket  would  gain  the  prize.  Or,  if  he 
could  not  determine  absolutely  what  the  pre- 
cise ticket  would  be — since  his  computation 
might  not  agree  precisely  with  that  made  by 
the  captain — he  could  determine  within  two 
or  three  of  the  right  one,  and  then  buy  three 
tickets — that  is,  the  one  which  agreed  with 
his  calculation,  and  also  the  one  above  and  be- 
low it — ^for  perhaps  a  sovereign  or  so  apiece : 
he  would  thus  get  the  ten  sovereigns  by  an 
expenditure  of  three  or  four.  His  plan,  in  fact, 
was  similar  to  that  of  the  Colonel ;  only  his 
estimate  was  to  be  based  on  the  observation, 
while  that  of  the  Colonel  was  based  on  the 
dead  reckoning.  They  both  performed  their 
computations  in  a  very  skilful  manner,  and 
they  came  to  nearly  the  same  result.  The 
mate  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  run  of 
the  ship  would  be  266  miles;  while  the  Col- 
onel, as  has  already  been  stated,  made  it  267. 
While,  therefore,  the  Colonel,  to  make  sure  of 
the  prize,  wished  to  buy  tickets  266,  267  and 
268,  the  mate  wished  to  secure  265,  266  and 
267.  The  mate,  after  making  some  inquiry, 
found  who  had  265 ;  and,  after  some  bargain- 
ing, succeeded  in  buying  it  for  two  sovereigns 
and  a  half.  But  he  could  not  hear  anything  of 
266.  As  for  267,  he  discovered  that  Hilbert 
had  it,  just  as  the  bell  rang  for  luncheon.  He 
told  Hilbert  that  if  he  wished  to  sell  his  ticket 
he  would  give  him  thirty  shillings  for  it,  which 
is  a  sovereign  and  a  half.  But  Hilbert  said  no. 

It  is,  however,  time  that  this  story  of  the 
lottery  should  draw  to  a  closo,  w^re  it  not  so. 


154  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 


a  great  deal  more  detail  might  have  been  given 
of  the  manoeuvres  and  contrivances  which  both 
the  Colonel  and  the  mate  resorted  to,  to  induce 
Hilbert  to  sell  his  ticket.  These  efforts  at- 
tracted no  special  attention,  for  all  the  others 
were  buying  and  selling  tickets  continually, 
and  making  offers  for  those  which  they  could 
not  buy.  Some  were  put  up  at  auction,  and 
sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  amid  jokes,  and 
gibes,  and  continual  shouts  of  laughter. 

At  length,  when  the  time  drew  nigh  for  the 
captain's  bulletin  to  appear,  the  mate  offered 
Hilbert  three  pounds  for  his  ticket,  and  Hil- 
bert went  and  asked  his  father's  advice  about 
accepting  this  offer.  His  father  hesitated  for 
some  time,  but  finally  advised  him  not  to  sell 
his  ticket  at  all.  Hilbert  was  satisfied  with 
this  advice,  for  he  now  began  to  be  quite  sure 
that  he  should  get  the  prize. 

At  length,  about  fifteen  minutes  after  the 
party  had  come  up  from  luncheon,  and  were 
all  assembled  around  the  paddle-box  settee,  a 
gentleman  came  up  one  of  stairways  with  a 
slip  of  paper  in  his  hands,  and,  advancing  to 
the  group,  he  attempted  to  still  the  noise  they 
were  making,  by  saying, — 

**Order,  gentlemen,  order.  I've  got  the  bul- 
letin." 

Everybody's  attention  was  arrested  by  these 
words,  and  all  began  to  call  out  **  Order"  and 
* 'Silence !"  until  at  length  something  like  quiet 
was  restored.  The  persons  assembled  were  all 
very  much  interested  in  learning  the  result ; 
for,  in  addition  to  the  prize  of  the  lottery,  there 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  155 


were  a  great  many  bets,  some  of  them  quite 
large,  pending,  all  of  which  were  to  be  decided 
by  the  bulletin. 

When,  at  length,  the  gentleman  found  that 
he  could  be  heard,  he  began  to  read  in  a  very 
deliberate  voice, — 

'^Latitude  forty-eight,  thirty-one." 

**Never  mind  the  latitude,**  exclaimed  the 
company.  **The  distance.  Let's  have  the 
distance.  * ' 

'^Longitude,"  continued  the  reader,  **ten, 
fourteen.  ** 

'^Nonsense!"  said  the  company.  **What's 
the  distance?" 

* 'Distance,"  continued  the  reader,  in  the 
same  tone,  **two  hundred  and  sixty-six." 

**Sixty-six!"  they  all  exclaimed  together; 
and  great  inquiries  were  immediately  made  for 
the  missing  ticket.  But  nobody  knew  any- 
thing about  it.  At  last,  Mr.  Chauncy's  com- 
panion, Charles,  who  happened  to  be  there, 
said, — 

**Why,  Chauncy  had  66,  I  believe."  Then 
calling  out  aloud  to  Mr.  Chauncy,  who  had 
come  up  on  the  deck  after  luncheon,  and  was 
now  sitting  on  one  of  the  settees  that  stood 
around  the  skylight,  he  added, — 

**Chauncy!  here!  come  here!  Where  is 
your  ticket?    You  have  got  the  prize. " 

**No, "  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  in  a  careless  tone, 
without,  however,  moving  from  his  seat.  *'I 
have  not  any  ticket." 

Two  or  three  of  the  gentlemen,  then,  headed 
by  Charles,  went  to  the  place  where  Mr. 


156  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


Chauncy  was  sitting,  to  question  him  more 
particularly. 

** Where's  your  ticket?"  said  Charles. 

**I  gave  it  to  one  of  the  deck  passengers/* 
said  Mr.  Chauncy. 

•'You  did!*'  said  Charles.  **Well,  it  has 
drawn  the  prize.  What  was  the  number  of 
it?" 

•'Ninety- nine,  I  believe,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy. 

"Ninety-nine!"  repeated  Charles,  contemp- 
tuously. "Nonsense!  There  was  no  ninety- 
nine.    It  was  sixty-six." 

Then,  shouting  with  laughter,  he  said,  *'0, 
dear  me!  that's  exactly  like  Chauncy.  He 
gives  half  a  sovereign  for  a  tcket,  then  reads  it 
upside  down,  and  gives  it  away  to  an  Irish- 
woman.   O  Gemini!" 

So  saying,  Charles,  and  those  with  him, 
went  away,  laughing  vociferously  at  Chauncy 's 
expense. 

The  remainder  of  the  adventurers  in  the  lot- 
tery had  in  the  meantime  dispersed,  having 
slunk  away,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  to  con- 
ceal their  mortification  and  chagrin.  It  was 
not  merely  that  they  had  each  lost  a  half  sov- 
ereign; but  they  had  all  calculated,  with 
greater  or  less  certainty,  on  getting  the  prize ; 
and  the  vexation  which  they  experienced  at 
the  disappointment  was  extreme.  Some  of 
them  had  bought  up  several  tickets,  in  order  to 
make  sure  of  the  prize.  These  were,  of  course, 
doubly  and  trebly  chagrined.  Some  had  been 
offered  good  prices  for  their  tickets,  but  had 
refused  to  accept  them,  hoping,  by  keeping  the 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  1S7 


tickets,  to  get  the  prize.  These  persons  were 
now  vexed  and  angry  with  themselves  for  not 
accepting  these  offers.  Then  there  was  a  feel- 
ing of  guilt  and  condemnation  which  mingled 
with  their  disappointment,  and  made  it  very 
bitter  and  hard  to  bear. 

The  Colonel  and  the  mate,  when  they  learned 
that  the  Irishwoman  held  the  winning  ticket, 
both  immediately  began  to  saunter  slowly 
along  toward  the  stairways  that  led  down  to 
the  forward  deck,  each  having  formed  the  plan 
of  going  and  buying  the  ticket  of  the  woman 
before  she  should  hear  that  it  had  gained  the 
prize.  They  moved  along  with  a  careless  and 
unconcerned  air,  in  order  not  to  awaken  any 
suspicion  of  their  designs.  They  were  sus- 
pected, however,  both  of  them,  by  Mr.  Chauncy. 
He  accordingly  walked  forward,  too,  and 
reached  a  part  of  the  promenade  deck  that  was 
near  the  smoke  pipe,  where  he  could  look  down 
upon  the  place  where  the  woman  was  sitting. 
He  reached  the  spot  just  as  two  men  came 
before  her,  one  having  descended  by  one  stair- 
case, and  the  other  by  the  other.  When  they 
met  each  other,  close  before  where  the  woman 
was  sitting,  they  each  understood  in  an  instant 
for  what  purpose  the  other  had  come.  They 
knew,  too,  that  it  would  defeat  the  object  alto- 
gether if  they  both  attempted  to  buy  the  ticket; 
and  yet  there  was  no  time  or  opportunity  to 
make  any  formal  stipulation  on  the  subject 
between  them.  Such  men,  however,  are 
always  very  quick  and  cunning,  and  ready  for 
all  emergencies.    The  mate,  without  speaking 


158  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


to  the  woman,  gave  a  wink  to  the  Colonel,  and 
said  in  an  undertone,  as  he  sauntered  slowly 
along  by  him, — 

^Xolonel!  half!" 

**Done!"  said  the  Colonel. 

So  the  mate  passed  carelessly  on,  leaving  the 
Colonel  to  manage  the  negotiation,  with  the 
understanding  that  they  were  to  share  the 
profits  of  the  transaction  between  them. 

Just  at  this  moment,  Mr.  Chauncy,  who  was 
looking  down  upon  this  scene  from  above, 
called  out  to  the  woman, — 

**My  good  woman,  your  ticket  has  drawn  the 
prize.  The  Colonel  has  come  to  pay  you  the 
money.  ** 

The  Colonel  was  overwhelmed  with  astonish- 
ment and  vexation  at  this  interruption.  He 
looked  up,  with  a  countenance  full  of  rage,  to 
see  from  whom  the  sound  proceeded.  There 
were  one  or  two  other  gentlemen  standing  with 
Chauncy  as  witnesses  of  the  scene;  and  the 
Colonel  saw  at  once  that  his  scheme  was 
defeated.  So  he  made  a  virtue  of  necessity, 
and,  taking  out  the  purse,  he  poured  the  ten 
sovereigns  into  the  poor  woman's  lap.  She 
was  overwhelmed  and  bewildered  with  aston- 
ishment at  finding  herself  suddenly  in  posses- 
sion of  so  much  money. 

As  for  Hilbert,  there  were  no  bounds  to  the 
vexation  and  anger  which  he  experienced  in 
the  failure  of  all  his  hopes  and  expectations. 

**What  a  miserable  fool  I  was!"  said  he.  **I 
might  have  had  that  very  ticket.  He  as  good 
as  offered  to  exchange  with  me.    Suqh  a  stupid 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  169 


dolt  as  I  was,  not  to  know  when  it  was  upside 
down!  Then,  besides,  I  was  offered  two 
pounds  for  my  ticket,  sure — and  I  believe  I 
should  have  taken  it,  if  my  father  had  not 
advised  me  not  to  do  it.  That  would  have 
come  to  almost  fifteen  dollars,  and  that  I 
should  have  been  sure  of.  So  much  for  taking 
my  father's  advice.  I  hope  they'll  get  up 
another  lottery  to-morrow,  and  then  Til  buy  a 
ticket  and  do  just  as  I  please  with  it,  and  not 
take  anybody's  advice.  I  shall  be  sure  to 
make  fifteen  dollars,  at  least,  if  I  don't  do  any 
better  than  I  might  have  done  to-day." 

The  rest  of  the  company  felt  very  much  as 
Hilbert  did  about  their  losses  and  disappoint- 
ments, though  the  etiquette  of  gambling, 
which  they  understood  better  than  he,  forbade 
their  expressing  feelings  so  freely.  In  fact, 
one  source  of  the  illusion  which  surrounds  this 
vice  is,  that  the  interest  which  it  excites,  and 
the  hilarity  and  mirth  which  attend  it  during 
its  progress,  are  all  open  to  view,  while  the  dis- 
appointment, the  mortification,  the  chagrin, 
and  the  remorse  are  all  studiously  concealed. 
The  remorse  is  the  worst  ingredient  in  the 
bitter  cup.  It  not  only  stings  and  torments 
those  who  have  lost,  but  it  also  spoils  the  pleas- 
ure of  those  who  win.  That  is,  in  fact,  always 
the  nature  and  tendency  of  remorse.  It  ag- 
gravates all  the  pain  and  suffering  that  it  min- 
gles with  and  poisons  all  the  pleasure. 


160  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  ARRIVAL. 

Day  after  day  of  the  voyage  thus  glided  away, 
the  time  being  beguiled  by  the  various  inci- 
dents which  occurred,  until  at  length  the  ship 
began  to  draw  near  toward  the  land.  As  the 
time  passed  on,  the  interest  which  the  passen- 
gers felt  in  their  approach  toward  the  land 
began  to  be  very  strong.  Some  of  them  were 
crossing  the  Atlantic  for  the  first  time ;  and 
they,  of  course,  anticipated  their  first  view  of 
the  shores  of  the  old  world  with  great  anticipa- 
tions of  delight.  The  first  land  to  be  **made," 
as  the  sailors  say,  that  is  to  be  seen,  was  Cape 
Clear — the  southern  port  of  Ireland.  There 
is  a  light-house  on  this  point ;  and  so  well  had 
the  captain  kept  his  reckoning,  and  so  exact 
had  been  his  calculations  in  his  progress  over 
the  mighty  waste  of  waters,  that  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  last  day  he  could  venture  to  predict 
to  an  hour  when  the  light  would  come  into 
view.  He  said  it  would  be  between  nine  and 
ten.  When  Maria  and  the  two  children  went 
to  their  berths,  Maria  asked  the  chambermaid 
to  come  and  tell  them  when  the  light  was  in 
sight.  She  accordingly  did  so.  RoUo,  in  order 
to  know  how  near  the  captain  was  in  his  calcu- 
lations, asked  her  what  o'clock  it  was.  She 


ROLLO  GN  THE  ATLANTIC.  161 

said  twenty-five  minutes  after  eight.  How 
astonishing  must  be  the  accuracy  of  the  instru- 
ments and  the  calculations  which  can  enable  a 
man  to  guide  a  ship  across  so  utterly  trackless 
a  waste  aiming  at  a  light-house  three  thousand 
miles  away,  and  not  only  come  out  exactly 
upon  it,  but  come  there,  too,  so  exactly  at  the 
time  predicted  by  the  calculation ! 

When  the  children  went  on  deck  the  next 
morning,  the  southern  coast  of  Ireland  was  all 
in  full  view.  Those  who  feel  an  interest  in 
seeing  the  track  the  ship,  will  find,  by  turning 
to  a  map  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  that 
her  course  in  going  in  from  the  Atlantic  toward 
Liverpool  lay  at  first  along  the  southern  coast 
of  Ireland,  and  then  along  the  western  coast 
of  Wales.  This  route,  though  it  seems  but  a 
short  distance  on  the  map,  requires  really  a 
voyage  of  several  hundred  miles,  and  more 
than  a  day  in  time,  for  the  performance  of  it. 
The  voyage  of  the  ship  is,  therefore,  by  no 
means  ended  when  she  reaches  the  land  at  Cape 
Clear.  There  is  still  a  day  and  a  night  more  for 
the  passengers  to  spend  on  board  the  vessel. 
The  time  is,  however,  very  much  beguiled  dur- 
ing this  last  day's  sail  by  the  sight  of  the  land 
and  the  various  objects  which  it  presents  to 
view — the  green  slopes,  the  castle-covered 
hills,  the  cliffs,  the  lines  of  beach,  with  surf 
and  breakers  rolling  in  upon  them ;  and  some- 
times, when  the  ship  approaches  nearer  to  the 
shore  than  usual,  the  pretty  little  cottages, 
covered  with  thatch,  and  adorned  with  gardens 
and  shrubbery, 

11  Atlantic 


162 


ROLLO  On  the  AtLAisrf  It. 


'  The  children  stood  by  the  railing  of  the  deck- 
for  some  time  after  they  came  up  from  below, 
gazing^  at  the  shores,  and  admiring  the  various 
pictures  of  rural  beauty  which  the  scene  pre- 
sented to  the  eye.  At  length,  becoming  a 
little  tired,  they  went  and  sat  down  upon  one 
of  the  settees,  where  they  could  have  a  more 
comfortable  position,  and  still  enjoy  a  good 
view.  Not  long  afterward,  the  captain,  who 
had  been  walking  up  and  down  the  deck  for 
some  time,  came  and  sat  down  by  them. 

*'Well,  children,*'  said  he,  "are  you  glad  to 
get  to  the  end  of  the  voyage?** 

*'Yes,  sir,**  replied  Jennie.  ** I  am  glad  to 
get  safe  off  of  the  great  sea.** 

''And  I  suppose  that  you  must  be  very  glad, 
sir,**  added  Rollo,  *'to  get  to  the  end  of  your 
responsibility.** 

*'Ah,  but  I  have  not  got  to  the  end  of  my 
responsibility  yet,  by  any  means,*'  said  the 
captain. 

As  he  said  this,  he  rose  from  his  seat,  and 
looked  out  very  attentively  forward  for  a  min- 
ute or  two,  A  length  he  seemed  satisfied,  and 
sat  down  again. 

**Well,  you  have  got  through  all  the  danger, 
at  any  rate,**  said  Rollo,  '*now  that  we  are 
inside  the  land.** 

**On  the  contrary,**  said  the  captain,  **we 
are  just  coming  into  the  danger.  There 
is  very  little  danger  for  a  good  ship,  whether 
it  is  a  sailing  ship  or  a  steamer,  out  in  the  open 
sea.  It  is  only  when  she  comes  among  the 
rocks,  and  shoals,  and  currents,  and  other  dan- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  163 


gers  which  thicken  along  the  margin  of  the 
land,  that  she  has  much  to  fear.  Ships  are 
almost  always  cast  away,  when  they  are  cast 
away  at  all,  near  or  upon  the  land. " 

**Is  that  the  way?**  replied  Rollo.  **1 
thought  they  were  cast  away  at  sea.  I  am 
sure  it  looks  a  great  deal  safer  here  than  it 
does  out  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean. '  * 

*'I  suppose  so,  to  your  eyes,**  replied  the 
captain.  **But  you  will  see,  by  reflecting  on 
the  subject,  that  it  is,  in  fact,  just  the  con- 
trary. If  a  very  violent  storm  comes  up  when 
the  ship  is  out  in  the  open  sea,  it  can  ordinarily 
do  no  harm,  only  to  drive  the  ship  off  her 
course,  or  perhaps  carry  away  some  of  her 
spars  or  sails.  If  there  is  no  land  in  the  way, 
she  is  in  very  little  danger.  But  it  is  very 
different  if  a  gale  of  wind  comes  up  suddenly 
in  such  a  place  as  this. " 

**And  how  is  it  here?"  asked  Rollo. 

*'Why,  in  the  case  of  a  good  steamer  like 
this,**  said  the  captain,  *'it  makes  no  great 
difference  here;  for  we  go  straight  forward  on 
our  course,  as  long  as  we  can  see,  let  it  blow 
as  it  will.  But  a  sailing  vessel  would  very 
probably  not  be  able  to  stand  against  it,  but 
would  be  driven  off  toward  any  rocks,  or  sand 
banks,  or  shores  that  might  happen  to  be  in 
the  way.  ** 

**And  so  she  would  certainly  be  wrecked, '* 
said  RqIIo. 

**No,  not  certainly,**  replied  the  captain. 
**As  soon  as  they  found  that  the  water  was 
shoaling,  they  would  anchor.'* 


164  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC 

**How  do  they  know  when  the  water  is  shoal- 
ing?" asked  Rollo. 

'*By  the  lead,'*  replied  the  captain.  **Pid 
you  never  sound  with  the  lead  and  line?" 

'*No,  sir,'*  replied  Rollo. 

**Well,  they  have  a  lead,  and  a  long  line," 
rejoined  the  captain,  **and  they  let  the  lead 
down  to  the  bottom  by  means  of  the  line,  and 
so  learn  how  deep  the  water  is.  The  lead  is 
round  and  long.  It  is  about  as  large  round, 
and  about  as  long,  as  Jennie's  arm,  from  her 
elbow  to  her  wrist,  and  there  is  a  small  cavity 
in  the  lower  end  of  it. " 

•*What  is  that  for?"  asked  Rollo. 

**That  is  to  bring  up  some  of  the  sand,  or 
mud,  or  gravel,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  that 
forms  the  bottom, "  replied  the  captain.  *'They 
put  something  into  the  hole,  before  they  let  the 
lead  down,  to  make  the  sand  or  gravel  stick. 
When  they  see  the  nature  of  the  bottom  in  this 
way,  it  often  helps  them  to  determine  where 
they  are,  in  case  it  is  a  dark  night,  or  a  foggy 
day,  and  they  have  got  lost.  It  is  very  easy 
to  measure  the  depth  of  the  sea  in  this  way, 
where  it  is  not  over  a  few  hundred  fathoms." 
**How  much  is  a  fathom?"  asked  Rollo. 

'*Six  feet,"  replied  the  captain;  that  is  as 
far  as  a  man  can  reach  by  stretching  out  both 
hands  along  a  wall.  If  the  water  is  only  a  few 
hundred  fathoms  deep, "  continued  the  captain, 
''we  can  sound;  but  if  it  is  much  deeper  than 
that,  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  the  lead  down." 

"Why,  I  should  think,"  said  Rollo,  'Hhat  the 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  165 

lead  would  go  down  to  the  bottom  of  itself,  no 
matter  how  deep  the  water  was.*' 

*'It  would,**  said  the  captain,  **wereitnot 
for  the  line.  But  the  line  has  some  buoyancy; 
and,  besides,  it  makes  a  great  deal  of  friction 
in  being  drawn  through  the  water;  so  that, 
when  the  line  begins  to  get  very  long,  it 
becomes  very  difficult  for  the  lead  to  get  it 
down.  As  they  let  out  the  line  from  the  ship, 
it  goes  more  and  more  slowly,  until  at  last  it 
does  not  seem  to  move  at  all.  *  * 

'*Then  the  lead  must  be  on  the  bottom,"  said 
Rollo. 

**No,  that  is  not  certain,"  said  the  captain. 
**It  may  be  only  that  the  quantity  of  line  that 
is  out  is  sufficient  to  float  the  lead.  Besides 
that,  the  currents  in  the  water,  which  may  set 
in  different  directions  at  different  depths,  carry 
the  line  off  to  one  side  and  the  other,  so  that  it 
lies  very  crooked  in  the  water,  and  the  weight 
of  the  lead  is  not  sufficient  to  straighten  it." 

*'Then  they  ought  to  have  a  heavier  lead,  I 
should  think,"  said  Rollo. 

*'Yes,'*  said  thecaptrdn;  **and  for  deep-sea 
soundings  they  do  use  very  heavy  sinkers. 
Sometimes  they  use  cannon  balls  as  heavy  as  a 
man  can  lift.  Then  they  take  great  pains,  too, 
to  have  a  very  light  and  small  line.  Still,  with 
all  these  precautions,  it  is  very  difficult,  after 
some  miles  of  the  line  are  run  out,  to  tell  when 
the  shot  reaches  the  bottom.  In  some  of  the 
deepest  places  in  the  sea,  the  line,  when  they 
attempt  to  sound,  is  all  day  running  out.  I 
knew  one  case  where  they  threw  the  shot  over- 


166  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

board  in  the  morning,  and  the  line  continued 
to  run  out,  though  slower  and  slower,  of 
course,  all  the  time,  until  night.  It  changed 
its  rate  of  running  so  gradually,  that  at  last 
they  could  not  tell  whether  it  was  running  or 
not.  It  seemed  to  float  idly  in  the  water,  sink- 
ing slowly  all  the  time;  and  yet  they  could  not 
tell  whether  it  was  drawn  in  by  the  drifting  of 
the  portion  of  the  line  already  down,  or  by  the 
weight  of  the  shot.  So  they  could  not  tell  cer- 
tainly whether  they  had  reached  bottom  or 
not. 

**  There  is  another  thing  that  is  curious  about 
it,*'  added  the  captain;  **and  that  is,  that, 
when  a  line  is  let  out  to  such  a  length,  they 
can  never  get  it  back  again.  *' 

**Why  not?'*  asked  RoUo. 

*'It  is  not  strong  enough,**  said  the  captain, 
**to  bear  the  strain  of  drawing  such  an  immense 
length  out  of  the  water.  There  is  a  very  con- 
siderable degree  of  friction  produced  in  draw- 
ing a  line  of  any  kind  through  the  water;  and 
when  the  line  is  some  miles  in  length,  and  has, 
besides,  a  heavy  ball  at  the  end  of  it,  the  resist- 
ance becomes  enormous.  Whenever  they 
attempt  to  draw  up  a  sounding  line  of  such  a 
length,  it  always  parts  at  a  distance  of  a  few 
hundred  fathoms  from  the  surface,  so  that  only 
a  small  part  of  the  line  is  ever  recovered.** 

**I  should  not  suppose  it  would  be  so  hard  to 
draw  up  the  line,'*  said  Rollo.  **I  should 
have  thought  that  it  would  come  up  very 
easily. ' ' 

**No,'*  said  the  captain.    **If  you  draw  even 


I 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  167 

a  whiplash  through  the  water,  you  will  find 
that  it  draws  much  harder  than  it  does  on  the 
grass;  and  if  a  boy's  kite  were  to  fall  upon  a 
pond  at  a  great  distance  from  the  shore,  I 
don't  think  he  could  draw  it  in  by  the  string. 
The  string  would  break,  on  account  of  the 
friction  of  the  string  and  of  the  kite  in  the 
water.  Sometimes,  in  naval  battles,  when 
a  ship  is  pretending  to  try  to  escape,  in  order 
to  entice  another  ship  to  follow  her,  away 
from  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  they  tow  a  rope 
behind,  and  this  rope,  dragging  in  the  water, 
retards  the  ship,  and  prevents  her  from  going 
very  fast,  notwithstanding  that  all  the  sails  are 
set,  and  she  seems  to  be  sailing  as  fast  as  she 
can  " 

**That*s  a  curious  way  of  doing  it,"  said 
RoUo;  'Msn't  it,  Jennie?" 

Jennie  thought  that  it  was  a  very  curious 
way  indeed. 

* 'There  is  no  difficulty,"  said  the  captain, 
resuming  his  explanations,  **in  finding  the 
depth  of  the  sea  in  harbors  and  bays,  or  at  any 
place  near  the  shore ;  for  in  all  such  places  it  is 
usually  much  less  than  a  hundred  fathoms.  So 
when  in  a  dark  night,  or  in  a  fog,  the  ship  is 
driven  by  the  wind  in  a  direction  where  they 
know  there  is  land,  they  sound  often;  and 
when  they  find  that  the  water  is  shoal  enough, 
they  let  go  the  anchor." 

*'And  so  the  anchor  holds  them,"  said 
Jennie,  **I  suppose,  and  keeps  them  from 
going  against  the  land." 

*'yes,"  said  the  captain,     generally,  but 


/ 

/ 


168  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

not  always.  Sometimes  the  bottom  is  of 
smooth  rock,  or  of  some  other  hard  formation, 
which  the  flukes  of  the  anchor  cannot  pene- 
trate, and  then  the  ship  drifts  on  toward  the 
land,  dragging  the  anchor  with  her.  *  * 

''And  what  do  they  do  in  that  case?"  asked 
Rollo. 

*'Very  often  there  is  nothing  that  they  can 
do,"  said  the  captain,  ''except  to  let  out  more 
cable,  cautiously,  so  as  to  give  the  anchor  a 
better  chance  to  catch  in  some  cleft  or  crevice 
in  the  bottom.  Sometimes  it  does  catch  in 
this  manner,  and  then  the  ship  is  stopped,  and, 
for  a  time  the  people  on  board  think  they 
are  safe. " 

"And  are  they  safe?"  asked  Rollo. 

"Perhaps  so,"  replied  the  captain;  "and  yet 
there  is  still  some  danger.  The  anchor  may 
have  caught  at  a  place  where  the  cable  passes 
over  the  edge  of  a  sharp  rock,  which  soon  cuts 
it  off,  in  consequence  of  the  motion.  Then 
the  ship  must  go  on  shore. 

"At  other  times,"  continued  the  captain, 
"the  ground  for  the  anchor  is  too  soft,  instead 
of  being  too  hard ;  and  the  flukes,  therefore, 
do  not  take  a  firm  hold  of  it.  Then  the 
anchor  will  drag.  Every  sea  that  strikes  the- 
ship  drives  her  a  little  in  toward  the  shore, 
and  she  is,  of  course,  in  great  danger." 

The  captain  would,  perhaps,  have  gone  on 
still  further  in  his  conversation  with  the 
children,  had  it  not  happened  that  just  at  this 
time,  on  rising  to  look  out  forward,  he  saw  a 
large  ship,  under  full  sail,  coming  down  the 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  169 

channel.  So  he  rose,  and  went  tip  upon  one 
of  the  paddle  boxes,  to  see  that  a  proper  look- 
out was  kept,  to  avoid  a  collision. 

The  seas  which  lie  between  England  and 
Ireland  are  so  wide,  and  they  are  so  provided 
with  lighthouses  and  buoys,  that  no  pilot  is 
necessary  for  the  navigation  of  them ;  and  the 
pilot  boats,  therefore,  which  contain  the  pilot 
who  is  to  take  the  vessel  into  port,  generally 
await  the  arrival  of  the  ship  off  the  mouth  of 
the  Mersey,  at  a  place  which  the  steamer 
reaches  about  twenty-four  hours  after  making 
Cape  Clear.  When  the  steamer  in  which 
RoUo  made  his  voyage  arrived  at  this  place, 
almost  all  the  passengers  came  on  deck  to  wit- 
ness the  operation  of  taking  the  pilot  on  board. 
There  were  ships  and  steamers  to  be  seen  on 
every  side,  proceeding  in  different  directions — 
some  going  across  to  Ireland,  some  south- 
wardly out  to  sea;  and  there  were  others,  still, 
which  were,  like  the  steamer,  bound  in  to 
Liverpool.  Among  these,  there  was  a  small 
vessel  at  a  distance  from  the  steamer,  with  a 
certain  signal  flying.  This  signal  was  to  show 
that  this  boat  was  the  one  which  contained  the 
pilot  whose  turn  it  was  to  take  the  steamer  in. 
The  captain  gave  the  proper  orders  to  the 
helmsman,  and  the  steamer  gradually  tarned 
from  her  course,  so  as  to  approach  the  spot 
where  the  pilot  boat  was  lying.  As  she  came 
near,  a  little  skiff  was  seen  at  the  stern  of  the 
pilot  boat,  with  men  getting  into  it.  In  a 
moment  more,  the  skiff  pushed  off  and  rowed 
toward  the  steamer.    A  sailor  §tpQd  on  a  sort 


/ 

/ 

170  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

of  platform  abaft  the  wheel  house  to  throw 
the  men  in  the  skiff  a  rope  when  they  came 
near.  The  engine  was  stopped,  and  the 
monstrous  steampipe  commenced  blowing  off 
the  steam,  which,  being  now  no  longer  em- 
ployed to  work  the  engine,  it  would  be  danger- 
ous to  keep  pent  up.  The  steam,  in  issuing 
from  the  pipe,  produced  a  dense  cloud  of 
smoke  and  a  terrific  roaring. 

In  the  meantime,  the  skiff  approached  the 
ship,  and  the  men  on  board  of  it  caught  the 
rope  thrown  to  them  by  the  sailor  on  the  plat- 
form. By  this  rope  they  were  drawn  up  to  the 
side, of  the  ship  at  a  place  where  there  was  a 
ladder;  and  then  the  pilot,  leaving  the  skiff, 
clambered  up  and  came  on  board.  The  men 
in  the  skiff  then  pushed  off  and  turned  to  go 
back  toward  the  pilot  boat.  The  roaring  of 
the  steam  suddenly  ceased,  the  paddle  wheels 
began  again  to  revolve,  and  the  ship  recom- 
menced her  motion.  The  pilot  went  up  upon 
the  paddle  box  and  gave  orders  to  the  helms- 
man how  to  steer,  while  the  captain  came 
down.  His  responsibility  and  care  in  respect 
to  the  navigation  of  the  ship  for  that  voyage 
was  now  over. 

In  fact,  the  passengers  began  to  consider 
the  voyage  ended.  They  all  went  to  work 
packing  up  their  trunks,  adjusting  their 
dresses,  changing  their  caps  for  hats,  and  mak- 
ing other  preparations  for  the  land. 

As  the  time  drew  nigh  for  going  on  shore, 
Jennie  began  to  feel  some  apprehension  on 
the  subject,  inasmuch  as,  judging  from  all  th§ 


ROLLO  OxN  THE  ATLANTIC.  171 

formidable  preparations  which  she  saw  going 
on  around  her,  she  inferred  that  landing  in 
Liverpool  from  an  Atlantic  steamer  must  be 
a  very  different  thing  from  going  on  shore  at 
New  York  after  a  voyage  down  the  Hudson. 
As  for  RoUo,  his  feelings  were  quite  the 
reverse  from  Jennie's.  He  not  only  felt  no 
solicitude  on  the  subject,  but  he  began  to  be 
quite  ambitious  of  being  ashore  alone — that  is, 
without  anyone  to  take  charge  of  him. 

*'We  shall  get  along,  Jennie,  very  well 
indeed,*'  said  Rollo.  asked  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers about  it.  The  custom-house  officers 
will  come  and  look  into  our  trunks,  to  see  if 
we  have  got  any  smuggled  goods  in  them. 
They  won't  find  any  in  ours,  I  can  tell  them. 
Then  all  I  have  got  to  do  is,  to  ask  one  of  the 
cabmen  to  take  us  in  his  cab,  and  carry  us  to 
a  hotel." 

"To  what  hotel?"  asked  Jennie. 

**Why — I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo,  rather 
puzzled.  **To  the  best  hotel.  I'll  just  tell 
him  to  the  best  hotel. " 

**Well,"  said  Jennie,  '*and  what  then?" 

**Well, — and  then," — said  Rollo,  looking  a 
little  perplexed  again,  and  speaking  rather 
doubtingly, — **then, — why,  I  suppose  that 
father  will  send  somebody  there  to  find  us.'* 

Jennie  was  not  convinced ;  but  she  had  noth- 
ing more  to  say,  and  so  she  was  silent. 

Rollo's  plan,  however,  of  taking  care  of  him- 
self in  the  landing  seemed  not  likely  to  be 
realized;  for  there  were  not  less  than  three 
different  arrangements  made,  on  the  evening 


172  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


of  the  arrival,  for  taking  care  of  him.  In  the 
first  place,  his  father  and  mother  were  at  the 
Adelphi  Hotel  in  Liverpool,  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  steamer,  and  intending  to  go  on 
board  as  soon  as  the  guns  should  announce  her 
coming.  In  the  second  place,  Mr.  Chauncy, 
Maria's  brother,  said  that  they  should  go  with 
him  and  Maria.  He  would  take  the  children, 
he  said,  to  a  hotel,  and  then  take  immediate 
measures  to  find  out  where  Mr.  Holiday  was. 
In  the  third  place,  the  captain  came  to  Rollo 
just  after  sunset,  and  made  a  similar  proposal. 

Rollo,  not  knowing  anything  about  his 
father's  plan,  accepted  Mr.  Chauncy 's  offer; 
and  then,  when  the  captain  came,  he  thanked 
him  for  his  kindness,  but  said  that  he  was 
going  with  Mr.  Chauncy  and  Maria. 

**Then  you  will  go  in  the  night,'*  said  the 
captain;  **for  Mr.  Chauncy  is  the  bearer  of 
dispatches." 

Rollo  did  not  understand  what  the  captain 
meant  by  this,  though  it  was  afterward  ex- 
plained to  him.  The  explanation  was  this: 
Every  steamer,  besides  the  passengers,  carries 
the  mails.  The  mails,  containing  all  the  let- 
ters and  papers  that  are  passing  between  the 
two  countries,  are  conveyed  in  a  great  number 
of  canvas  and  leather  bags,  and  sometimes  in 
tin  boxes;  enough,  often,  to  make  several  cart- 
loads. Besides  these  mails,  which  contain  the 
letters  of  private  citizens,  the  government  of 
the  United  States  has  always  a  bag  full  of 
letters  and  papers  which  are  to  be  sent  to  the 
American  minister  in  London,  for  his  instruc- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  173 

tion.  These  letters  and  papers  are  ealled  the 
government  dispatches.  They  are  not  sent 
with  the  mails,  but  are  intrusted  usually  to 
some  one  of  the  passengers — -a  gentleman 
known  to  the  government  as  faithful  and  trust- 
worthy. This  passenger  is  called  the  bearer 
of  dispatches. 

Now,  the  steamers,  when  they  arrive  at 
Liverpool,  cannot  usually  go  directly  up  to 
the  pier,  because  the  water  is  not  deep  enough 
there,  except  at  particular  states  of  the  tide. 
They  accordingly  have  to  anchor  in  the  stream, 
at  some  distance  from  the  shore.  As  soon  as 
they  anchor,  whether  it  is  by  day  or  by  night, 
a  small  steamer  comes  alongside  to  get  the 
mails  and  the  dispatches;  for  they  must  be 
landed  immediately,  so  as  to  proceed  directly 
to  London  by  the  first  train.  The  bearer  of 
dispatches,  together  with  his  family,  or  those 
whom  he  has  directly  under  his  charge,  are, 
of  course,  allowed  to  go  on  shore  in  the  small 
steamer  with  the  dispatch  bag,  but  the  rest 
of  the  passengers  have  to  wait  to  have  their 
trunks  and  baggage  examined  by  the  custom- 
house ofRcers.  If  the  vessel  gets  to  Liverpool 
in  the  night,  they  have  to  wait  until  the  next 
morning.  This  was  what  the  captain  meant 
by  saying,  that,  if  the  children  went  on  shore 
with  iVLr.  Chauncy,  they  would  go  in  the  night; 
for  he  then  expected  to  get  to  his  anchoring 
ground  so  that  the  boat  for  the  mails  would 
come  off  to  the  ship  at  about  half  past  twelve. 

Accordingly,  that  evening,  when  bedtime 
came,  Maria  and  the  children  did  not  go  to 


It4  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


bed,  but  they  lay  down  upon  the  couches  and 
in  their  berths,  in  their  dayclothes,  awaiting 
the  summons  which  they  expected  to  receive 
when  the  small  steamer  should  come.  In  the 
meantime,  the  ship  went  on,  sometimes  going 
very  slowly,  and  sometimes  stopping  alto- 
gether, in  order  to  avoid  a  collision  with  some 
other  vessel  which  was  coming  in  her  way. 
The  night  was  foggy  and  dark,  so  that  her  pro- 
gress, to  be  safe,  was  necessarily  slow.  At 
length,  Maria  and  the  children,  tired  of  wait- 
ing and  vS'atching,  all  three  fell  asleep.  They 
were,  however,  suddenly  aroused  from  their 
slumbers  about  midnight  by  the  chambermaid, 
who  came  into  the  state  room  and  told  them 
that  Mr.  Chauncy  was  ready. 

They  rose  and  hurried  up  on  deck.  Their 
trunks  had  been  taken  up  before  them.  When 
they  reached  the  deck,  they  found  Mr. 
Chauncy  there  and  the  captain,  and  with  them 
two  or  three  rather  rough-looking  men,  in 
shaggy  coats,  examining  their  trunks  by  the 
light  of  lanterns  which  they  held  in  their 
hands.  The  examination  was  very  slight. 
The  men  merely  lifted  up  the  things  in  the 
corners  a  little,  and,  finding  that  there  ap- 
peared to  be  nothing  but  clothing  in  the 
trunks,  they  said,  **A11  right!"  and  then  shut 
them  up  again.  All  this  time  the  steampipe 
of  the  little  steamer  alongside  kept  up  such  a 
deafening  roar  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
hear  what  was  said. 

The  way  of  descent  to  get  down  from  the 
deck  of  the  great  steamer  to  the  little  one  was 


ROLLO  ON  THE  AtLANttC  175 

very  steep  and  intricate,  and  it  seemed  doubly 
so  on  account  of  the  darkness  and  gloom  of 
the  night.  In  the  first  place,  you  had  to  climb 
up  three  or  four  steps  to  get  to  the  top  of  the 
bulwarks;  then  to  go  down  a  long  ladder, 
which  landed  you  on  the  top  of  the  paddle  box 
of  the  steamer.  From  this  paddle  box  you 
walked  along  a  little  way  over  what  they  called 
a  bridge;  and  then  there  was  another  flight  of 
stairs  leading  to  the  deck.  As  all  these  stairs, 
and  also  the  sides  of  both  the  steamers,  were 
painted  black,  and  as  the  water  looked  black 
and  gloomy  too,  the  whole  being  only  faintly 
illuminated  by  the  lurid  glare  of  the  lanterns 
held  by  the  men,  the  prospect  was  really  very 
disheartening.  Maria  said,  when  she  reached 
the  top  of  the  bulwarks  and  looked  down,  that 
she  should  never  dare  to  go  down  there  in  the 
world. 

She  was,  however,  a  sensible  girl,  and  as  she 
knew  very  well  that  there  could  not  be  any 
real  danger  in  such  a  case,  she  summoned  all 
her  resolution  and  went  on.  Men  stood  below, 
at  the  different  landmg-places,  to  help  her, 
and  her  brother  handed  her  down  from  above. 
Mr.  Chauncy,  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  she  had 
safely  descended,  was  going  to  attend  to  the 
children,  but  just  at  that  instant  he  missed  his 
dispatch  bag.  He  asked  where  it  was  Some 
said  they  believed  it  had  gone  down  the  slide. 
There  was  a  sort  of  slide  by  the  side  of  the 
ladder,  where  the  mails  and  trunks  had  been 
sent  down.  Some  said  it  had  gone  down  this 
slide;  others  did  not  know.    So  he  directed 


m  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


the  children  to  wait  a  moment  while  he  went 
down  to  see.  He  acco'rdingly  descended  the 
ladder,  and  began  to  look  about  in  a  hurried 
manner  to  see  if  he  could  find  it.  The  men  on 
board  the  steamer,  in  the  meanwhile,  were 
impatient  to  cut  loose  from  the  ship,  the  mail 
agent  having  called  out  to  them  to  make  haste, 
or  they  would  be  too  late  for  the  train.  Accord- 
ingly, some  of  them  stood  by  the  ladder, 
ready  to  take  it  down;  while  others  seized  the 
ropes  and  prepared  to  cast  them  off  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice,  as  soon  as  they  should  hear  that 
the  dispatch  bag  was  found.  They  did  not 
know  that  the  children  were  at  the  top  of  the 
ladder,  waiting  to  come  on  board ;  for  it  was 
so  dark  that  nothing  could  be  seen  distinctly 
except  where  the  lanterns  were  directly  shin- 
ing, and  the  noise  made  by  the  roaring  of  the 
steamer  was  so  great  that  very  little  could  be 
heard 

.  Mr.  Chauncy  found  the  dispatch  bag  very 
soon  in  the  after  part  of  the  vessel,  where 
somebody  had  put  it  in  a  safe  place.  As  soon 
as  he  saw  it,  he  said,  "Ah,  here  it  is.  All 
right!*' 

*'A11  right r  all  right!"  said  the  sailors 
around  him,  repeating  his  words  in  a  loud 
tone,  when  they  heard  him  say  that  the  dis- 
patch bag  was  found.  Mr.  Chauncy  immedi- 
ately hurried  back  to  go  up  the  ladder  to  the 
children;  but  he  was  too  late.  On  hearing 
the  words  all  right!"  the  men  had  immedi- 
ately drawn  down  the  ladder,  and  cast  off  the 
fastenings,    so  that,  by  the  time  that  Mr. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  Ill 


Chatincy  reached  the  paddle  box,  the  noise  of 
the  steam  pipe  had  suddenly  stopped,  the  pad-  - 
die  wheels  were  beginning  to  revolve,  and  the 
little  steamer  was  gliding  rapidly  away  from 
the  vast  and  towering  mass  under  which  it  had 
been  lying. 

**The  children!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Chauncy, 
•* the  children!" 

** Never  mind,"  said  the  captain,  in  a  very 
quiet  tone.  **It's  too  late  now.  I'll  take  care 
of  them  to-morrow  morning. '  * 

The  captain  spoke  in  a  manner  as  calm  and 
unconcerned  as  if  the  children  being  left  in  this 
way  was  not  a  matter  of  the  slightest  conse- 
quence in  the  world.  In  fact,  the  commanders 
of  these  steamships,  being  accustomed  to  en- 
counter continually  all  sorts  of  emergencies, 
difficulties,  and  dangers,  get  in  the  habit  of 
taking  everything  very  coolly,  which  is, 
indeed,  always  the  best  way. 
'  Then,  turning  to  the  children,  he  said: 

**It*s  all  right,  children.  Go  below  and  get 
into  your  berths  again,  and  I  will  send  you  on 
shore  to-morrow  morning  when  the  rest  of  the 
passengers  go." 

So  Rollo  and  Jennie  went  below  again.  The 
chambermaid  was  surprised  to  see  them  com- 
ing back ;  and  when  she  heard  an  explanation 
of  the  case,  she  advised  them  to  undress  them- 
selves and  go  to  bed  regularly.  This  they  did, 
and  were  soon  fast  asleep. 

The  next  morning,  very  soon  after  sunrise, 
another  steamer  came  off  from  the  shore, 
bringing  several  customhouse  officers  to  exam- 

12  Atlantic 


178 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


ine  the  passengers'  baggage.  By  the  time  that 
this  steamer  had  arrived,  a  great  many  of  the. 
passengers  were  up,  and  had  their  trunks  ready 
on  deck  to  be  examined.  Among  the  rest  was 
Hilbert  with  his  trunk,  though  his  father  and 
mother  were  not  yet  ready.  Hilbert  was  very 
anxious  to  get  on  shore,  and  so  he  had  got  his 
trunk  up,  and  was  all  ready  on  the  deck  half 
an  hour  before  the  steamer  came. 

When  the  tug  came  alongside,  Hilbert,  who 
was  looking  down  upon  her  from  the  prome- 
nade deck,  observed  a  neatly-dressed  looking 
man  on  board  of  it,  who  seemed  to  be  looking 
at  him  very  earnestly.  This  was  Mr.  Holiday's 
servant.  His  name  was  Alfred.  When  Mr. 
Holiday  had  gone  to  bed  the  night  before,  he 
had  given  Alfred  orders  that  in  case  the 
steamer  should  come  in  in  the  night,  or  at  a 
very  early  hour  in  the  morning,  before  it 
would  be  safe  for  him,  as  an  invalid,  to  go  out, 
he,  Alfred,  was  to  go  on  board,  find  the  chil- 
dren, and  bring  them  on  shore.  Accordingly, 
when  Alfred  saw  Hilbert,  and  observed  that 
he  was  of  about  the  same  size  as  Rollo  had 
been  described  to  him  to  be,  he  supposed  that 
it  must  be  Rollo.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  the 
tug  was  made  fast,  he  came  up  the  ladder,  and 
immediately  made  his  way  to  the  promenade 
deck,  to  the  place  where  Hilbert  was  standing. 
As  he  approached  Hilbert,  he  touched  his  hat, 
and  then  said,  in  a  very  respectful  tone : 

'*Beg  pardon,  sir.  Is  this  Master  Holi- 
day?" 

"Rollo,  do  you  mean?"  said  Hilbert.  **No. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  179 

Rollb  went  ashore  last  night  with  the  bearer 
of  dispatches. " 

,  Hilbert  knew  that  this  was  the  arrangement 
which  had  been  made,  and  he  supposed  that  it 
had  been  carried  into  effect. 

Alfred,  who  was  a  very  faithful  and  trust- 
worthy man,  and  was  accustomed  to  do  every- 
thing thoroughly,  was  not  fully  satisfied  with 
this  information,  coming  as  it  did  from  a  boy ; 
but  he  waited  some  little  time,  and  made  in- 
quiries of  other  passengers.  At  last,  one  gen- 
tleman told  him  that  he  was  sure  that  Rollo 
had  gone  on  shore,  for  he  saw  him  and  his  sis- 
ter pass  up  out  of  the  cabin  when  the  mail  tug 
came.  He  was  sitting  up  in  the  cabin  reading 
at  the  time.  Alfred  was  satisfied  with  this 
explanation,  and  so  he  called  a  small  boat 
which  was  alongside,  and  engaged  the  boat- 
man to  row  him  ashore. 

Thus  the  second  plan  for  taking  care  of  Rollo  . 
and  Jennie,  in  the  landing,  failed. 

All  this  time  Rollo  and  Jennie  were  both 
asleep — for  the  chambermaid,  thinking  that 
they  must  be  tired  from  having  been  up  so  late 
the  night  before,  concluded  to  let  them  sleep 
as  long  as  possible.  While  they  were  sleep- 
ing, the  waiters  on  board  the  ship  were  all  em- 
ployed in  carrying  up  trunks,  and  boxes,  and 
carpet  bags,  and  bundles  of  canes  and  umbrel- 
las, from  all  the  state  rooms,  and  spreading 
them  about  upon  the  decks",  where  the  custom- 
house officers  could  examine  them.  The  decks 
soon,  of  course,  presented  in  every  part  very 
bustling  and  noisy  scenes.    Passengers  were 


180  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


hurrying  to  and  fro.  Some  were  getting  their 
baggage  together  for  examination ;  some  were 
unstrapping  their  trunks;  and  others,  having 
unstrapped  theirs,  were  now  fumbling  in  their 
pockets,  in  great  distress,  to  find  the  keys.  It 
is  always  an  awkward  thing  to  lose  a  trunk 
key ;  but  the  most  unfortunate  of  all  possible 
times  for  meeting  with  this  calamity  is  when  a 
customhouse  officer  is  standing  by,  waiting  to 
examine  what  your  trunk  contains.  Those 
who  could  not  find  their  keys  were  obliged  to 
stand  aside  and  let  others  take  their  turn.  As 
fast  as  the  trunks  were  inspected,  the  lid  of 
each  was  shut  down,  and  it  was  marked  with 
chalk ;  and  then,  as  soon  as  it  was  locked  and 
strapped  again,  a  porter  conveyed  it  to  the 
tug,  where  the  owner  followed  it,  ready  to  go 
on  shore. 

In  the  midst  of  this  scene  the  captain  came 
on  deck,  and  began  to  look  around  for  the  chil- 
dren whom  he  had  promised  to  take  care  of. 
He  made  some  inquiries  for  them,  and  at  length 
was  told  that  they  had  gone  ashore. 

'*At  least,  I  think  they  have  gone, "  said  his 
informant.  **I  saw  Mr.  Holiday's  coachman 
here,  inquiring  for  them,  a  short  time  ago. 
And  he  seems  to  be  gone.  I  presume  he  has 
taken  them  ashore.  * ' 

**He  can't  have  taken  them  ashore,"  said 
the  captain.  **  There  is  nothing  to  go  ashore 
till  this  tug  goes.  However,  I  presume  he  has 
got  them  under  his  charge  somewhere." 

So  the  captain  dismissed  the  subject  from  his 
mind;  and  after  remaining  a  few  minutes  on 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  181 


deck,  and  seeing  that  everything  was  going  on 
well,  he  went  below  into  his  state  room,  in 
order  to  write  a  letter  to  the  owners  of  the 
ship,  to  inform  them  of  the  safe  termination  of 
the  voyage. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  chambermaid 
waked  Rollo  and  Jennie.  They  rose  immedi- 
ately, and  were  soon  dressed.  On  going  up 
upon  the  deck,  they  were  somewhat  surprised 
to  witness  the  bustling  scenes  that  were  enact- 
ing there ;  and  they  stood  for  a  few  minutes 
surveying  the  various  groups,  and  watching 
with  great  interest  the  process  of  examining 
the  baggage.  ,At  length,  after  following  the 
process  through  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers, who  was  just  opening  his  trunk  when 
they  came  up,  Rollo  turned  to  Jennie,  and 
said: 

*'It  is  nothing  at  all,  Jennie.  I  can  do  it  as 
well  as  anybody. " 

So  he  looked  about  till  he  found  his  trunk, 
and,  leading  Jennie  there,  he  took  his  station 
by  the  side  of  it,  and  immediately  proceeded 
to  unstrap  and  unlock  it.  He  took  out  some 
of  the  largest  things  from  the  top  of  the  trunk 
and  put  them  on  a  settee  near,  so  that  the 
officer  could  easily  examine  the  rest.  By  the 
time  he  had  done  this  an  officer  was  ready. 

**Is  this  your  trunk,  my  lad?"  said  the  officer, 
at  the  same  time  lifting  up  the  clothes  a  little 
at  the  corners. 

**Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

**A11  right,"  said  the  officer,  and  he  shut 
down  the  lid,  and  marked  the  top  with  a  P. 


182  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  opened  his  trunk  again  to  put  the 
other  things  in,  and  then  locked  and  strapped 
it.  A  porter  then  took  it  and  carried  it  on 
board  the  tender.  Rollo  and  Jennie  followed 
him. 

In  about  half  an  hour  the  tender  put  off  from 
the  steamer  and  went  to  the  shore.  On  the 
way,  Jennie,  who  could  not  help  feeling  some 
anxiety  about  the  result  of  these  formidable 
proceedings,  said,  timidly: 

'*I  don't  see  what  we  are  going  to  do,  Rollo, 
when  we  get  to  the  shore. " 

**We  will  do  what  the  rest  do,"  said  Rollo. 
As  soon  as  the  steamer  touched  the  pier  and 
began  to  blow  off  her  steam,  a  terrific  scene  of 
noise  and  confusion  ensued.  Rollo  and  Jennie 
stood  near  their  trunk,  overawed  and  silenced ; 
but  yet  Rollo  was  not,  after  all,  much  afraid, 
for  he  felt  confident  that  it  would  all  come  out 
right  in  the  end.  He  was  right  in  this  suppo- 
sition ;  for  as  soon  as  some  fifty  of  the  most 
impatient  and  eager  of  the  passengers  had  got 
their  baggage,  and  had  gone  ashore,  the  tu- 
mult subsided  in  a  great  measure.  At  length, 
a  porter,  after  taking  away  a  great  many 
trunks  near  Rollo,  asked  him  if  that  trunk, 
pointing  to  Rollo's,  was  to  go  on  shore.  Rollo 
said  that  it  was.  So  the  porter  took  it  up  and 
went  away,  Rollo  and  Jennie  following  him. 

They  made  their  way  through  the  crowd, 
and  across  the  plank,  to  the  pier.  When  they 
had  got  upon  the  pier,  the  porter  turned  and 
said,  '*Do  you  want  a  carriage?"  Rollo 
anwered,  '*Yes;"  and  then  the  porter  immedi- 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC.  183 

ately  put  the  trunk  upon  the  top  of  a  small 
carriage  which  was  standing  there  in  a  line 
with  many  others.  He  then  opened  the  door, 
and  Rollo  and  Jennie  got  in. 

'*How  much  to  pay,  sir?'*  said  Rollo. 

** Sixpence,  if  you  please,  sir,**  said  the  por- 
ter. 

Rollo,  who  had  the  precaution  to  provide 
himself  with  silver  change,  so  as  to  be  ready, 
gave  the  man  a  sixpence.  Of  course,  it  was 
an  English  sixpence. 

** Thank  you,  sir,'*  said  the  porter.  ** Where 
shall  he  drive?*' 

**To  the  hotel,'*  said  Rollo. 

'*To  what  hotel?"  said  the  porter. 

*'Why— I  don't  know, "  said  Rollo.  **To— to 
the  best  hotel. " 

'*To  the  Adelphi,**  said  the  porter  to  'the 
coachman.  So  saying,  he  shut  the  door,  and 
the  coachman  drove  away. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  hotel, 
the  landlord,  who  came  out  to  see  who  had 
come,  supposed  at  once  that  his  new  guests 
must  be  Mr.  Holiday's  children;  so  he  sent 
them  up  immediately  to  their  father's  parlor, 
where  the  breakfast  table  had  been  set,  and 
their  father  and  mother,  and  Thanny  were 
waiting  for  them.  The  joy  of  their  parents  at 
seeing  them  was  unbounded,  and  they  them- 
selves were  almost  equally  rejoiced  in  finding 
their  long  voyage  brought  thus  to  a  safe  and 
happy  termination. 

In  respect  to  Tiger,  however,  the  end  of  the 
voyage  was  unfortunately  not  so  propitious. 


1 


184  ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 

In  the  confusion  of  the  landing  she  was  forgot- 
ten, and  left  behind;  and  Jennie  was  so  excited 
and  overjoyed  at  meeting  her  mother  that  it 
was  nearly  noon  before  she  thought  of  the  kit- 
ten  at  all.  Her  father  then  sent  Alfred  on 
board  the  ship  to  see  if  he  could  get  her.  He 
came  back  with  the  cage,  but  he  said  that  the 
kitten  Wj^s  nowhere  to  bo  found.  He  made 
diligent  inquiry,  but  he  could  obtain  no  tidings 
of  her — and  no  tidings  were  ever  afterward 
heard.  WWSther  she  fell  overboard  and  was 
drowned ;  or  whether  the  waiters  on  the  ship 
took  a  fancy  to  her,  and  hid  her  away  some- 
where in  the  forecastle  in  order  to  keep  her  for 
their  pet  and  plaything  in  future  voyages ;  or 
whether  she  walked  over  the  plank  to  the  pier,' 
when  the  ship  came  alongside  of  it,  and  there 
got  enticed  away  by  the  Liverpool  cats  into 
the  various  retreats  and  recesses  which  they 
resort  to  among  the  docks  and  sewers — could 
never  be  known.  At  all  events,  neither  Jennie 
nor  RoUo  ever  saw  or  heard  of  her  again. 


/  /  o  - 

h  ■ 


ENDOWED  BY  THE 
DIALECTIC  AND  PHILANTHROPIC 
SOCIETIES 


